The Heat of War
by kburke101
Summary: Patrick O'Carroll seems to be just a normal soldier. But as his friends know, he is not. In fact he isn't even a he. Her name is Ryley O'Carroll. Malarkey/OC. Story is better than summary would suggest.
1. Curhahee

Chapter 1: Curhahee

"You people are at the position of attention!" We all snapped up quickly. Malarkey gave me a quick reassuring smile as Lt. Sobel walked by. It had been only seven days and Sobel's chickenshit had already brought the company together in its hatred towards him. We were a family. And I was the baby sister.

I was born in Eugene, Oregon under the name of Ryley O'Carroll. I was expected to grow up and be exactly like my mother; a housewife in every sense of the word. I was not gonna be stuck with that life. I wanted more.

I had heard about the paratroopers from a guy in town. You had to be in top physical condition and my only problem was I had no balls. Literally. It wasn't too hard; living in a small town many were willing to help. I cut off all of my hair and had the doctor fake a note. I was on my way to basic training as Patrick O'Carroll, my brother's name; he was a no-good bum anyways.

Malarkey was to sleep in the 'bed' next to mine and we were able to become friends immediately. He was the first person who learned my secret and he swore to not tell a soul. It was at least five days before I told anyone else and I'm sure that by the time we left basic training, everyone knew; except the commissioned officers because if Sobel ever found out... I didn't even want to think of the consequences.

Sobel was walking around, examining everyone trying to find the smallest of infractions. He stopped in front of Malarkey and I could see my friend take a deep breath.

"Name?"

"Private Malarkey, Donald G. sir!"

"Is Malarkey slang for bullshit Private?"

"Yessir!"

"Rust on the butt plate hinge spring Private Bullshit, revoked." I looked over at Malarkey and gave him an apologetic look. Sobel walked over and stopped right in front of me. My expression turned into a cold glare. "Name?"

"O'Carroll, Patrick." I tilted my head slightly and added with a bitter tone, "Sir." He yanked my gun from my hands and looked at it. He took the clip out and looked inside he replaced it and looked back into my cold glare.

"Well O'Carroll, Patrick there is dirt inside here, pass revoked." As he began to walk away, I spoke up.

"Permission to speak sir." He turned around, facing me again. All eyes were on us since no one had ever spoken up before.

"Denied. And your weekend passes for the next month are revoked for speaking out of turn." He turned to walk away when I spoke up again.

"If I may sir, it is not probable for there to be any dirt in or on my gun considering I have cleaned it ten times this morning including once just before coming here." He stormed back towards me getting right in my face. I didn't flinch or let any fear show.

"Want to repeat that soldier?"

"I said sir, that it was not probable for there to be dirt anywhere on this gun having cleaned it multiple times just this morning. And if I was to look at it now, I am positive I would find nothing sir." He took a deep breath, rage showing in every feature of his face. I felt fear inside. I was sure that I had ruined my chances to stay in the paratroopers already. He was sure to kick me out now. After standing there for almost a minute, though it felt like so much longer, his eyes shifted to past me. He suddenly grabbed my gun and looked at it again. He looked behind me once more.

"You're right soldier." He looked at me in the eye and I could see all of the hate. He handed the gun back to me. "You months weekend passes are no longer revoked." I took a deep breath as he stalked away towards Liebgott. I could barely stand because my heart was racing so fast. I was sure I was going to far over right then and there. I did a quick glance behind me to see what he had been looking at. Standing there watching Sobel's every move, was Colonel Sink. I guess he didn't want Col. Sink to jump in while he was wrong.

My attention snapped back when I heard Sobel addressing the entire company. He was holding up a bayonet.

"I wouldn't take this rusty piece of shit to war and I will not take you to war in your condition. Now, thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass, has lost it." He paused and sneered at me. "Change into your PT gear, we're running Curhahee." I groaned slightly as out Lt., Richard Winters, told us to fall out.

"Oh boy, Ryley, the shit really almost hit the fan there."

"It's Patrick, I can't risk a commanding officer hear my name. But anyways he didn't drop me right then and there because Sink was watching. And anyways, he still got my weekend pass." All of the guys had their backs turned towards me as I changed in the corner by my bed right where no one outside could see me, it was a habit they had already fallen into. I quickly finished changing and sat on my bunk to put my boots back on. I cringed slightly from the hair growing on my legs. I was not allowed the pleasures of being a women. Not even shaving my legs. "And now he absolutely hates me." Malarkey laughed and sat next to me.

"Don't worry, he hates us all."Shouts of 'Ain't that the truth' and laughter filled the room. "See? Now come on Princess, we have a mountain to run."

"Call me that again and I will kill you."

"Woah save that anger for Jerry. The Krauts deserve it more." I chuckled.

"That they do." George Luz came up to me and sat on the bed in front of me.

"Princess, this guy ain't bothering you is he?"

"No but you are. If everyone keeps calling me Princess, Sink, or worse Sobel, figure out I am a girl."

"Or you could just be gay..."

"You my friend are paranoid.

"If you put yourself in my sho-" Luz cut me off.

"No you have it down pat. With your short hair and unshaven legs..."

"Shut up Luz."

"Well I didn't believe it until I saw the cloth holding her-"

"Malarkey! Shut up!" I felt my face go red from anger and embarrassment. It was then that Carwood Lipton entered the room to get us going. We got up and walked out the door. We jogged past a group of taunting Company D men and headed towards Curhahee.

* * *

Malarkey kept giving me glances. He knew this run killed me more than the others. We were breathing deeply together in a rhythm. I was strong but we had to run 3 miles up and 3 miles down in a total of 50 minutes. I could only thank God that Malarkey was there to make this easier. His breathing helped keep me calm and controlled. Sobel was running next to us when suddenly Muck stepped in a ditch and twisted his ankle. Malarky grabbed him and Sobel had his chance to yell.

"Do not help that man! Do not help him." He ran up ahead yelling what the men joked was his mating call; "High-Ho Silver!" Me and Malark both looked at Muck. He was usually one of the first ones to the top. Don whispered quietly in his ear.

"You can run with us today, we won't let you hurt that ankle anymore." Muck nodded as he tried to hide the pain that came with each limping stride he made. I saw Sobel take his usual shortcut to the top and anger filled up within me. Muck had to suffer while he got the east way out.

I tried to keep my breathing steady as I had learned to in cross country but it was harder now that we were practically carrying Muck between us. We were almost at the top and I could see Winters encouraging some of the other men before he started to run down. It wasn't too long before he was running towards us. He took one look at me and Malarkey on either side of Skip, holding him up. He heard my heavy breathing and gently moved me out of the way,

"Let me in here O'Carroll." He then took my place of holding up Muck. We continued running towards the top with our new companion. It wasn't too long before we reached it. Winters being there seemed to inspire us to go faster.

"Lt. Winters, I see you're back." Winters let out a deep breath and a nod as the four of us touched the marker and headed back down. I could feel the heat radiating off the back off Winters head as Sobel's eyes burned into it. I let a smile escape. I wasn't the only one Sobel really didn't like.

* * *

Marches, night marches, and even more marches. Discussion of how Sobel hates us is even reaching the ears of Winters. He doesn't hate Easy Company; just the individuals. I've often had latrine duty since I stood up to him, even just for the smallest of things. He hates the individuals of Easy Company but he loathed me. It was another night march and I saw Christenson take another sip of his water.

"Damn it Christenson, you know we were ordered to not drink from our canteens!"

"I know, but this machine gun is really fucking heavy, ok?" I held my hand out.

"Let me see your canteen." He handed it over.

"Just remember to give it back. You can drink as much as you want since I've already drank too much from it." Unscrewing the top, I slung my gun over my shoulder and then took out my canteen. I quickly unscrewed mine and with a steady hand poured some of my water into his canteen. He looked from my hands up to my face.

"Wh- What? Why?"

"Now maybe he won't notice, and if he does, he'll send me too since we have the same amount now. You wouldn't have to go alone." I handed him back his canteen and put my own away. "Try not to drink anymore." I unslung my gun and held it to my shoulder again.

"Damn it O'Carroll, Sobel doesn't need a reason to punish you more, you shouldn't have done that." I heard Malarkey whisper in my left ear. I looked to my right at Christenson.

"I had to." I turned back to Malarkey and smiled. "I'll be fine." I could see Winters marching beside us, not even two rows back and fully aware of what happened.

* * *

"Pour 'em." The sound of water beating against the ground filled the air. Sobel looked around and zeroed in on the two canteens that had stopped pouring. He was there in a flash.

"Who is this? Christenson. And O'Carroll, why am I not surprised." He looked at me with disgust. "Why is there no water in your canteens? You drank from your canteen didn't you?" Christenson tried to speak up.

"Sir, I-"

"Lt. Winters!"

"Yes sir."

"Were these men ordered not to drink from their canteens during the Friday night march?"

"They were, sir."

"Privates Christenson and O'Carroll you have disobeyed a direct order. You will fill your canteens and are to repeat all 12 miles of the march immediately."

"Yes sir."

"Fall out!" We walked to the spicket to fill our canteens. I looked over to see Sobel talking to Winters before he would let the company go. I filled my canteen and then gulped the water down. Christenson looked at me and then did the same. Silently we refilled our canteens and then started off.

* * *

"Thank you." It had been ten minutes before either of us said a word.

"No need, you still have to do the march again."

"But now I'm not alone." There was silence again.

"Malarkey looked like he wanted to kill me." We laughed.

"Yeah he can be a little overprotective sometimes."

"Yeah just a little." He chuckled again. "A lot of us are, for you." I felt my face go red.

"I can take care of myself."

"Oh trust me, we know. It's just," he paused. "You're like a sister to us." I smiled, knowing it was a compliment of sorts. "Malarkey though, man is he over the top protective." I shifted a little.

"He has known the longest."

"By only a couple of days."

"It's just in his nature."

"If you say so."

"I do." We were silent the rest of the march.

* * *

"What on earth were you thinking Ryley?"

"Malark..."

"You weren't! You and all of your damn compassion."

"Malarkey..."

"How could you do something like that? You know Sobel already hates you."

"Donald, shut the fuck up!" He stopped, stunned. Everybody pretending to be busy; I knew they were listening and at that moment , I couldn't care less. "I knew what I was doing. I'm not a baby dammit!"

"I'm just trying to make sure nothing happens to you."

"Something is bound to happen, I mean we are going to war for Chrissake! If I were a guy you wouldn't be acting like this! So stop thinking of me as a girl!" I hissed.

"I don't think of you as a girl..."

"Bullshit."

"I think of you as a woman, one who could kick my ass." He muttered softly.

"Well stop."I turned and got into my bed.

"I can't." He said, even softer than before.

* * *

Training, more training, jumping from fake planes, obstacle courses with pig guts. We went through it all. I found myself in more pain than ever before but I was also faster and stronger. And I was making an impact on the others. Word spread about how I had tried to help Christenson during the night march and other men began going out of their way to support their comrades. Like when Gordon had to run Curhahee, three others chose to go with him. Sobel also got promoted to Captain. He went through a random inspection and I thanked God that anything that could have given me away was well hidden. One of these boys had even thrown a Titter magazine in my footlocker for in case this ever happened. It helped lower any suspicions. As part of the inspection, Sobel found a can of peaches. He asked the officers what it was.

"A can of peaches." Nixon had replied.

"Wrong." Said Sobel and he went on to say that it was United States property. News of that incident spread quickly. The next day when Sobel stepped out of his quarters he found a tall stack of Peach cans with a note saying:

_No matter what you say, they are still peaches._

I felt as if Luz had something to do with that. Of course, everyone's weekend passes were revoked, but it was worth it to see the look on his face. And then the spaghetti. No one in their right mind would say that it was actual spaghetti but it was still better than what we usually had. We were told we would have the afternoon off so we were packing it down and were as happy as a bunch of clams. that was until Sobel same in saying that we were running Curhahee. All the food that had been stuffed down, was thrown back up as we ran. Sobel's revenge. And Winters knew that. He was there to support us as he always was. He was the only officer we could truly look up to at that time. He started us singing and there was a renewal of energy from all of the men. I smiled at Malarkey as we both sang loudly. Sobel just stared.

* * *

To become a true paratrooper, we had to do our five plane jumps. On the plane for the first one I was terrified. Malark rubbed my free hand inconspicuously.

"You got this Ryley." He said just loud enough for me to hear. I nodded and then jumped out the door. I felt like I was flying and it was the most amazing feeling I had ever felt. I landed as we had learned and quickly rolled up my chute. I ran to where Malarkey was now landing.

"I did it!" I climbed under the chute he was having difficulty getting out of. He smiled at me and then I threw my arms around him and gave him a hug. Surprise showed on his face and his face colored red. He held me for a moment longer before I crawled out from under the chute with him right behind. We both tried to forget about what had just happened and I had trouble ignoring just how it felt.

* * *

Alcohol was everywhere and I did my best to avoid it all. It wouldn't be a celebration if I got found out. And it was indeed a celebration. We were paratroopers now. No longer would we have to run Curhahee if we didn't want to. Basic training was over. Sobel would still be our commanding officer though. I would still have to be careful. Luz carried a beer over from the bar.

"One drink won't kill you." He said as he put it in front of me. "I can be your designated sober person to make sure nothing happens so, drink. And try not to look so depressed. At this rate you could command Sobel, Sergeant." I smiled.

"Wouldn't that be great." I took a sip of the beer.

"Well congrats on your promotion. It kinda sucks now though that I have to salute you."

"You'll get over it."

"Probably. Enjoy yourself now."

"Will do."


	2. The Leaving of Sobel

**AN:/ Disclaimer: This is based more off of the series than the real men and is not meant to disrespect any of those brave men. And I do not own any of the "characters" as they belong to themselves and apparently HBO. **

I shifted slightly trying to get a little more comfortable. We all kept our eyes open for any sign of the enemy. There was nothing but complete silence. Until Sobel started whispering for the map. I looked at Malarkey and we gave each other knowing glances; he was going to get us killed. I could just barely make out what Sobel was saying, he was going to have us move from our perfect position. Winters went to him and tried to convince him to stay put.

"Dammit." I muttered under my breath as we were given the command to move out. We crept silently towards the enemy territory. And then they popped up with their guns trained on us. I sighed in defeat as we all lowered our guns. 95% of us would have died if this was real. We were told to leave 3 'wounded' men on the ground and then head back. The lucky three were chosen and we started back. We had failed again and all due to Sobel.

I was laying on my cot staring at the ceiling of our barrack.

"I can't believe he got us killed again."

"Really you can't? I don't find it surprising at all."

"Well he needs to get taken care off before we actually die." Talk like this was very common among the men. I sat up a little.

"Whining is going to do anything about it guys." I said.

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"I don't know yet. But I do know we are moving out soon. Sobel is sending letters to all of our parents." Everyone shifted uncomfortably.

"I wonder where we are going."

"Away."

"No shit Sherlock, I meant Atlantic or Pacific."

"Atlantic." They all looked at me. "I overheard when they were telling Nixon."

"Look at you O'Carroll, always having the answers about everything."

"Well not everything." I glanced at Malarkey who was laying down on his cot. Maybe Christenson was right and maybe that was why I freaked out on him. I was afraid. I was afraid to admit if... that Malarkey didn't look at me as a sister and rather liked me, a lot. And I was afraid to admit that I felt the same. What if I died and he knew I felt the same way about him? He would never forgive himself. What if he died and I had admitted out loud that I liked him. That would almost kill me. The most I could do was to ignore it and hoped the feelings all passed and hope that he tries to do the same.

"Ok men, get packing, we are moving out." We all stood up and started packing our bags.

"Told you we were moving out soon." I took my bag and stood near the trucks with Muck and Malarkey. I overheard the group next to us talking about Sobel. "He's right."

"Who is?"

"Cobb," I pointed to the group not too far from us. "He said that either the Krauts will get Sobel, or we will."

"Who wants the honor?"

"That is quite tempting." I chuckled, "But there has to be another way to get rid of him without anyone dying."

"All right men, get your asses onto the trucks, we have a train we have to catch."

* * *

I was right it turned out. We took a train to New York and then were on a boat towards England.

"Hey, guys, I'm glad I'm going to Europe." Joe Toye said as he pulled out a knife. "Hitler gets one of these right across the windpipe. Roosevelt changes Thanksgiving to Joe Toye Day, and pays me 10 grand a year for the rest of my fucking life." I let out a laugh.

"Keep dreaming Toye." I swiftly climbed onto the bunk next to Malarkey.

"Eh, fuck you O'Carroll."

"No thank you." I stated and pulled out a Time magazine.

"What if we get sent to North Africa?"

"My brother is in North Africa, he says its hot." Guarnere said, taking a break from his Lucky Strikes.

"Really? It's hot in Africa?" Was Malarkey's response.

"Shut up." And then the conversation went to Sobel.

"If I'm next to Sobel in combat, I'm moving on down the line. Hook up with some other officer like Heyliger or Winters." I nodded in agreement as Bill shook his head.

"I like Winters, he's a good man. But when the bullets start flying, I don't know if I want a Quaker doing my fighting for me."

"How do you know he's a Quaker?"

"He ain't Catholic." Bill had a little biasness when it came to religion. And I knew we quickly formed a friendship once he knew I was Catholic too. It's not like he didn't become friends with non-Catholics, he was just more likely to befriend one.

"Neither's Sobel."

"That prick's the Son of Abraham."

"He's what?" Liebgott shot in from across the narrow aisle.

"He's a Jew." Sometimes Guarnere didn't know when to shut his mouth.

"I'm a Jew." Liebgott was one of the few in our company. A punch was thrown and the two men began fighting. Everyone worked to pull the two apart and I jumped between the two stopping their fists.

"Guarnere, stop being such a jackass."

"Ryley, he was in my face."

"I don't care, you egged him on. And you," I turned to Liebgott who had been smiling smugly at the reprimand I was giving to Bill. His smile faded. "All he was saying was that Sobel was Jewish. He may have been a dick in the way he was saying it and none of us like Sobel but it is a fact so deal with it. All he did was nod. "God you would think you guys were two years old." I lay back down next to Malark.

"You sounded like my mother just then." I glared at him. "No offense was meant!" He said raising both hands. I smiled and picked my magazine back up.

* * *

England was cold and damp. I didn't like it. It didn't help we had more training. But this wasn't just physical training. We were working with weapons and out on the field. The weekends were pretty horrible too. I stayed in the house I was quartered in for most of the time. If I went to a bar just to get a drink, English girls would throw themselves at me faster than I could refuse. And I didn't want to deal with that every weekend.

During this particular training exercise, Sobel was wearing the a nice leather jacket he had gotten from God knows where. And he had gotten us lost again. Not that that was much of a surprise. there was a fence. He yelled for Tipper, who was standing right next to him, and sent us to stand behind some trees. We managed to convince Luz to imitate Major Horton to get us moving again.

"Is there a problem Captain Sobel?" We were all giggling like a bunch of girls. There was silence. "What is the goddammned holdup Mr. Sobel?"

"Uh a fence sir," more giggles at his stuttering. "A barbed wire fence."

"Oh that dog just ain't gonna hunt! Now you cut that fence and get this goddamned platoon on the move!"

"Yes sir!"

That was the popular topic of discussion the next day.

"You should have seen how flustered he was."

"And then he got so much shit from Strayer for cutting that fence."

"Hey guys," Everyone looked at me as I gave the ball to Bull. Evans was driving up. "Winters is about to get the heat from Sobel." Evans handed a letter to Winters. He saluted and then got back into the car. As he drove off, Bull threw the ball of the back of the truck and they continued the game. I watched Winters as he shook his head.

"He spelled Courts-Martial wrong." Nixon pointed out. I felt a knot in my stomach. I quickly went to find the other Sergeants. Only Malrkey watched me leave.

* * *

We sat around a table in a dusty barn. I watched the rain pouring down outside. It was always raining here.

"So we're going through with this right?" Grant asked, leaning forward.

"We've gotta do something." I stated. The others nodded in agreement.

"Alright, good." Lip spoke up. "But we'd all better be clear of the consequences."

"I don't care about the consequences." Martin said grumpily.

"We could be lined up against a wall and shot. Now I'm ready to face that and every one of us had better be too."

"Everyday I'm here I risk that, count me in." The others looked at me.

"I will not follow that man into combat." Guarnere said how we all felt.

"Me neither."

"Alright, then let's do it." We all pulled out pencils solemnly and wrote the same thing.

_I hereby no longer wish to serve as a non-commissioned officer in Easy company_.

I signed my false name and put the pencil down. I stood up.

"Well it was nice knowing all of you."

"Good luck." I gathered up the papers and walked out.

"I ought to have you all shot! This is nothing less than an act of mutiny while we prepare for the goddamned invasion of Europe." I winced a little. Sgt. Harris got transferred out of the regiment and Raney got busted down to Private. The rest of us got away with a slap on the hand in the form of a reprimand. "Now get out of my office and get out of my sight." We saluted. "Get!" We marched out in two lines. Outside we all put our covers on. And there was Winters. We walked past him saluting. He knew what we had done. I could tell by the mixture of anger and pride that he let show on his face.

* * *

"Sobel is going to Chilton Foliat!" Someone ran up yelling. We all looked up. It was Luz. We stared at him in stunned silence. "Did you guys not hear me or something? Sobel is gone and Lt. Meehan is taking over." Cheers erupted from the men standing around.

"Holy shit." I said to myself and ran my hand through my hair. I noticed it was getting longer so I would have to cut it soon. Sobel was gone and Winters was returned to us and all was good. But I still couldn't tell Winters my secret. I longed to knowing he would support me through it but his duty would have him tell Meehan and Meehan could care a rat's ass about me. Keeping a secret this big sucked. Every day I had to make sure the bandages around my chest were tight and secure. Every day I had to check that there was sufficient padding to cover my lack of, well- something. I had to make sure that Sink, or anyone I didn't know, never found out. Sobel was gone but life was still tough. I was pulled from my thoughts.

"Sink must have known that stunt you guys pulled was because Sobel sucked major ass." I nodded absently and concern filled Malarkey's face. "Are yo-" I held up my hand to stop in.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. He nodded and went to cheer with the other men. I watched him for a moment. "Oh if you only knew."

**AN:/ Sorry this one was much shorter. I just wanted to stop it there, so yeah **


	3. Think of England

**Ok sorry the last one kinda sucked so bad, I was in too much of a hurry to get it out. Hopefully this one is a little better. And reviews help, they let me know what I can fix so yeah :D.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Band of Brothers and this is in no way to disrespect the men. I only own Patrick (Ryley) O'Carroll.**

Chapter 3: Think of England

We moved to Upottery, England on May 31, 1944. In addition to Lt. Meehan, we also got Lt. Buck Compton. We became fast friends at the realization that we both sucked at craps. And boy was I glad of that because he was there when a semi-drunk Bill Guarnere slipped up.

"Hey, Ryley, Ryley O'Carroll, look over here." I turned from the game and looked to see what he was up to.

"Ryley? Isn't your name Patrick or is it customary here for people to have feminine nicknames?" I have gone two years without any commissioned officer figuring out my secret and in his first two days he already knew. My heart was racing as I turned back, biting my lower lip.

"Not quite." His face turned to shock as he quickly connected all of the pieces. Everyone at the table but Buck had known. Tension filled the room. The panic that began growing within me was now clear on my face as definite proof to what Buck just figured out. I became desperate, "Buck... Lt. please don't tell anyone! You are the only officer who knows, and... and I have every right to fight, and if need be, die for my country as anyone else here." He looked at me for a second.

"Sgt. Patrick let us just get back to our game, and Gonorrhea, don't talk when you're drunk. " And that was that. Buck acted as if nothing had occurred, but I saw the new respect in his eyes and that made me burst with pride and relief. Everyone at the table relaxed and we went back to the game which was still going horribly for me.

* * *

We were all called to receive intel. That meant only one thing. We were going to jump soon. It was early in the month of June and for once the sun was shining. Penkala shifted uncomfortably in the seat in front of me. The heat was actually quite dreadful. It didn't help we were all seated close to each other feeling very much like sardines. I lit the cigarette that Penkala held out and he smoked it hoping it would ease his discomfort. He gave me a short wink and I chuckled softly to myself. A lot of guys here smoked, usually to relieve stress. I felt it was completely unnecessary but all of the guys knew I carried around a lighter. It was my father's and my only connection to home. We were told to file out and to begin preparing for the invasion. We all shuffled out, all very sober.

It wasn't too long before I had everything I had to bring laying out in front of me and boy it was a lot of stuff. Toye claimed it had to weigh has much as him; I'm sure it all weighed more than me. I looked at Malarkey.

"This is ridiculous! I mean look at all of this!" Malarkey just chuckled. It wasn't supposed to be a conversation starter anyways.

"O'Carroll! Patrick O'Carroll!"

"Over here." I called with a small wave of my hand. A letter was given to me and the man continued his rounds. I looked down at the letter slightly in shock. It was addressed to Patrick O'Carroll in my mother's flowery handwriting. My breath caught and my heart skipped a few beats. Slowly, my hands moved themselves to open the letter.

_Dearest Patrick,_

_Thank you for the note you left us, it was very sweet of you._

I felt a twinge of guilt. The note I had left was really anything but sweet. Basically it said I was gone and there was nothing they could do about it. And if they ever sent a letter to Ryley O'Carroll rather than Patrick I would be put to a firing squad. I had hoped that they would write but I never thought they actually would. I took a deep breath and turned back to the letter.

_Not much has really happened since you have left. Eugene is still Eugene and your father is still your father. Your brother though, after you left got over his 'illness'._

I snorted. Using the word 'illness' to refer to being an alcoholic was definitely something my mother would do.

_We miss you dearly and pray every day that you are safely returned to us. Write back soon._

_Mom_

I smiled a small smile at the short letter in front of me. I wasn't disowned and that was positive news. Well at least I wasn't to my knowledge.

"Alright, listen up, listen up!" We all turned to look at Lip.

"If you did not sign your GI life insurance policy, you go on over and see Sergeant Evans at the headquarters company tent. You boys don't let your families miss out on $10,000." I paled a little. I had already signed the form, but saying it that way... Martin grabbed Lipton's attention and I turned back to Don. He smiled and clasped a hand on my shoulder.

"I'll make sure you don't die, whatever it takes, no matter what." His voice and face were playful but there was a seriousness in his eyes.

"And I will make sure that you don't get yourself killed." I was all serious. His face turned a little pink and he quickly changed the subject by holding up his new leg bag.

"Why are they springing these things on us now?" I looked at my leg bag and then back at him.

"They love us?" He shook his head smiling. Luz came up and dropped his not so lightly on the ground.

"It's just an extra 80 pounds strapped to your leg." He held up part of it. "Does anybody have any idea how the hell this thing works?"

"Yeah, you tie it around your neck." I smiled up at him and he shot me a fake glare.

"That hurts more than I can say, Princess." I shot him a real glare. He still used that nickname whenever he was trying to annoy me, and it always worked.

"Will both of you shut ya traps? I'm trying to eat my ice cream in peace." The voice was unmistakably Guarnere and I had to laugh at how serious he was. The same kid who had given me my letter was walking around handing out sheets of paper.

"Colonel Sink." He said as he shoved a piece to Luz and then one to me. Luz put on his best Sink voice and then began reading the letter.

"Soldiers of the regiment: Tonight, is the night," he faded back to his own voice, "of nights. Today, as you read this you are en route to the great adventure for which you have trained for, for over two tears." He stumbled over the last part a little.

"So that's why they gave us ice cream." I didn't laugh at Guarnere this time. I was staring at the paper shaking in my hands and we were all deadly silent. It hit us then how real this was.

* * *

It was postponed. The invasion was. There was too much fog or something. Malarkey and I were the only ones who went back to our barracks. Most everyone else went to see the movie that was playing. We talked, joked, and laughed, anything to keep our minds off of the coming invasion. Our discussion was on our two hometowns that were only a few miles apart when Guarnere stormed in and sat on his cot, head in his hands. I walked over and sat next to him.

"I'll be back, I have to- I have things I gotta do." Malarkey said softly and he left the room. I stayed silent and placed my hand on Guarnere's back. I could feel him trembling from fear, anger, and- and sadness. I could hear him holding back sobs. I knew tomorrow he was going to be pissed about whatever happened, but for now, now he needed to grieve.

"M-my brother." He forced out slightly. He looked up at me and the sadness in his eyes nearly killed me. "He was somewhere. Monte Cassino or something like that. And he- he's gone." I put my arms around him and held him softly.

"It's ok Bill, he's in a better place now. He's out of this damn war." He held me slightly, no longer holding back the sobs. It stayed that way for around five minutes until he pulled away. I moved so I was no longer holding him. He stood up,

"Thank you." There was an unspoken understanding that I wouldn't tell anyone about what had just occurred. He started walking towards the door. I stood up slowly. He turned before leaving, looking me straight in the eyes. His were filled with pure undeniable hatred, "I'm gonna kill every last one of those Kraut bastards." And then he was gone. Malarkey peeked in not to long after and saw me sitting alone on my bed writing a letter. He sat across from me.

"Response to your parents?" He asked nodding at the paper. I gave a small nod. He shifted a little. "It was his brother wasn't it?" I nodded again, not bothering to ask how he figured it out. I finished the letter and slowly folded it and put it in an envelope. I looked at Malarkey who was staring at the ground.

"Don, " He looked up. Concern showed in his eyes as he saw the obvious tears sliding down my cheek. He moved quickly to sit next to me. He didn't ask questions but just held me against his chest, almost exactly how I had done for Guarnere. I cried quietly. I cried for Guarnere, I cried for Malarkey. For my parents back at home. For the many I knew were going to die soon. I cried that I might never get to see home again. Everything that had been built up for the past two years was flowing out now. Malarkey lifted my chin gently and then wiped the tears off my cheeks.

* * *

The next day we went through the same preparations. This time though, we knew we were going to go. Everyone helped each other get all of their equipment on. It really did weigh more than me. I watched as Guarnere went up to talk to Martin. Pity welled up in my gut. I watched as he walked away. His eyes still had that same hatred though it wasn't as strong today.

"Gentlemen, Doc Roe is handing these out for air sickness." We were all seated on the ground. "Orders are, every man takes one now, another 30 minutes in the air." I grabbed the pills from Doc but only stuck them in my pocket. I didn't get air sickness from our jumps before. And honestly, we were just going to be jumping out of them anyways. From the looks of some of the men who already took the pill, well they looked worse than they would if they really had air sickness.

"2nd Platoon listen up. Good luck. God bless you. I'll see you in the assembly area." Winters nodded at us. Leave it to him to give a short reassuring speech. Then he began helping everyone up, shaking their hands in the process. I saluted him before I went to try and get on the plane, helping the person in front of me get on first. Malarkey helped make sure I didn't fall and we all finished clambering on with Winters right behind us. I felt the planes start up and my stomach twisted into knots. Malarkey's hand held mine firmly where no one saw it. I think it was for his own comfort as much as mine. It wasn't too long before we were in the air, on our way to Normandy.

**Quick note, do I think Guarnere would have cried like that? No. Why did I do it? I felt the need to have two 'emotional' scenes in a row. And I needed something to make Ryley's emotion go zing anyways.**


	4. Flash and Thunder

**I do not own Band of Brothers in anyway, I only own Ryley. Also I never curse this much so it is really weird for me xD. Beside that I have nothing else to say except to ask you to please review. Negative reviews let me know what to change to make better and positive reviews help boost my confidence and write more often and therefore post quicker. So it is win-win.**

Chapter 4: Flash and Thunder

Darkness was everywhere. I could barely make out the faces of the people around me. In front of me sat Guarnere holding his rosary just as I was holding mine. He looked up at me and I nodded to him, unable to find the words of comfort we all needed to hear. Next to me sat Malarkey and next to him, Toye. Don turned to look out the window behind him and I squeezed his hand gently. I know I should have let go, not to allow my hand to stay in his. It only strengthened my feelings for him, but I couldn't help it. It felt as if his hand fit perfectly with mine and I knew the ache I would feel just to have his hand in mine. He turned back to me and smiled glumly. I wondered if he felt the same way I did. I studied his face as he tried to drift off into sleep for the little time we had left. I could just barely see Winters by the door. Just knowing I was in the same plane as him brought a strange comfort. My thoughts turned to the other Easy Company men on the other planes. I could only hope and pray for their souls; for all of our souls. I fidgeted slightly and Malarkey's head moved to rest on my shoulder. I looked at him. He was sleeping, I could tell by the peaceful look on his face. He was smiling slightly, I could only wonder what he was dreaming about. Maybe a nice cool day sitting out in the fields he told me he often visited. I don't know how he could sleep but I felt horrible knowing that his peace would not last very long. It would be replaced by the determination to kill as many Krauts as possible, anger towards them for this stupid war, fear for his life, fear for everyone's life.

And that was when I heard the first explosion. I stared straight in front of me. Malarkey's hand tightened around mine. He was awake now. All of his peacefulness was gone. Our red light suddenly popped on so Winters stood up and shouted the orders we knew he would.

"10 ok!." I felt a pat on my arm.

"9 ok!" I patted Malarkey's arm.

"8 ok!" It continued up the line.

"1 ok!" The plane began to shake violently and the sky was lit up from the anti-aircraft guns. Men were already filling the air, we hadn't even reached the DZ yet.

"We get any lower we ain't gonna need any friggin' parachutes!" I silently agreed with Skip but didn't voice my opinions. Then our green light turned on. We definitely were not at the drop zone yet.

"Let's go!" The adrenaline of getting ready to jump pushed the thought that we were too low and too fast out of my mind. Malarkey jumped with me only a few seconds behind him. My legs snapped up and I watched as my leg-bag flew off my leg and away. This was definitely not as wonderful as our other jumps; the fact that we were being shot at might have been part of the reason why. Still, there was a certain thrill to it as we floated gracefully down, contrasting greatly with the turmoil around us. As the ground drifted closer I heard a great rip as a shell slashed through my parachute.

"Aw shit." The drop from that point on, was anything but graceful. I worked hard to keep the chute as steady as I could but still hit the ground faster than I would have liked, jarring both of my knees in the process. "God- ouch- fuck!" I ignored the pain in my knees as best as I could and began to strip off my jumping gear. I rolled up my parachute and placed it in my bag; it was definitely a keeper with its huge slash through it. "What a great souvenir." I looked around. "Now I just gotta figure out where the hell I am." Talking to myself helped slightly ease the pain and fear that was welling up within me.

"Flash!" I turned quickly toward the voice and hissed out the response.

"Thunder!" Winters came over, crouching.

"Now how the hell was I lucky enough to drop near you Lt.?"

"Your parachute get ripped?"

"Yes sir."

"Well there ya go." Always the technical answers for the rhetorical questions. Before I had the chance to say anything, another soldier landed near us.

"Flash!" We ran at a crouch over to him.

"Shit!"

"I don't think that's the correct reply trooper. I say 'Flash', you say 'Thunder."

"I say po-tay-toe, you say po-tah-toe." They both looked at me funny and I just shrugged.

"Yes sir, Thunder, sir." Winters began helping the man with his equipment. I held my gun tightly, extremely glad it wasn't in my leg-bag, and kept a sharp lookout. The boy looked at Winters.

"Coach? Sir it's Hall, sir. I was on the basketball team."

"Leg-bag?"

"Prop blast got it sir, and my radio and batteries with it."

"That sounds familiar."

"Mine too, mine is somewhere behind those trees."

"Okay."

"Follow me." Hall and I began to follow Winters when a machine gun began shooting in our direction. "To hell with that!" And we turned and ran to another clump of trees. There was a German gun not to far from us so we stopped. "Wait until they reload." We didn't have to wait too long before they started reloading. "Let's go." We ran by till they were out of sight and slowed to a walk. We listened for the slightest hint of Germans, but there were only trees around us. "Aren't you 'D' Company?"

"Able, sir." Hall looked at me.

"I'm with him." I pointed at Winters.

"Guess that means someone is in the wrong drop zone, sir?"

"Yeah, or all of us."

"I say all of us."

"Do you have a weapon sir?"

"Just a knife." I looked at him. I hadn't noticed that before.

"You want mine sir?"

"No Sergeant O'Carroll, I'll be fine."

"Do you have any idea where we are sir?" We paused.

"Some."

"We are in France." I said as brightly as I could. "Land of fine food and wine." I saw Winters smile as he shook his head slightly.

" You forgot women." Hall piped in.

"Uh yes, that too." I said, trying to mask my awkwardness. Winters quickly changed the subject. Maybe it was awkward for him too, in a different way of course.

"So you're a radio man?" He asked, looking at Hall.

"Yes sir. Well I was until I lost my radio on the jump. I'm sure I'll get chewed out for that."

"Well if you were in my platoon,"

"Like me." They paid no notice to me.

"I'd tell you, you were a rifleman first and a radio man second."

"Well maybe you could tell that to my platoon leader. When we find him. If we find him."

"It's a deal. First, I need your help. We'll locate some landmarks to get our bearings. Keep your eyes peeled for buildings, farmhouses, bridges, roads," He paused, "Trees." They both chuckled.

"Uh sir," Winters turned and looked at me. "I found a tree, sir." A wide grin broke out on my face and it only widened when I saw one appear on Winters face. I turned to humor to keep my mind of Malarkey, but if it helped the others...

"You need to stop hanging out with Luz, Sergeant." I could only shrug, still smiling, as Winters let out soft, clear laughter. The sound was genuine and pure in what appeared to be a dark hell.

"I wonder if the others are as lost as we are."

"We aren't lost Private, it's as the Sergeant said, we're in Normandy."

* * *

We finally came out of the trees and onto a dirt road. There was a river running on the other side and we saw a bridge. It was a non-spoken consent to walk over to the bridge. That's when we heard twigs snapping on the other side of the river. We quickly got down. We could just make out people across the river walking. Winters pulled out his cricket and clicked it once. We waited for a response, holding our breath. Hall and I both raised our guns. Then the response came and our guns went down. We breathed sighs of relief.

"Who's that?"

"Lt. Winters, is that you?" It was none other than Carwood Lipton. We came out of hiding and formed a circle with the newcomers.

"Any weapon?"

"No sir, as soon as I hit that prop-blast, so long leg-bag. All I got is this knife and some TNT."

"Wow, been hearing that a lot tonight." Lip looked at me and then smiled.

"O'Carroll, good seeing you."

"Jerry won't kill me that easily Lip." He turned back to Winters.

"These 82nd boys got their M-1's."

"Oh man, 82nd, where the hell are we?" Hall asked for not the first time.

"Sir, I saw a sign back thataways, said 'Sainte Mere-Eglise.'" Winters then did something I was not expecting. He began unzipping his pants.

"Woah Lt.! Is that really necessary." He pulled out a compass and held it out; giving me a look that clearly said 'Really?'. "Oh."

"Flashlight." Someone handed him a flashlight. "Raincoat?"

"You got a raincoat?"

"Yeah." One of the 82nd boys handed one over. Winters went under the raincoat hopefully to find out where the hell we had to go. He came back up not too much later.

"We're about 7 kilometers away from our objective and 4 hours away from when we need to have it secured. So, we got a lot of walking ahead of us. You men will stick with us until we find your unit. Let's go." We began moving out.

"Hey, Sarge, where are we going?" I let Lip answer.

"Causeway number 2, Utah Beach. The Germans flooded the fields inland. We don't clear those routes, our boys ain't going nowhere."

"Six of us ain't gonna secure a road." I smiled as I walked behind the 82nd boys. "That Louie don't even have a weapon." I came up beside them.

"He doesn't need one. They looked at me and I was still smiling. As I caught up to walk with Lipton. We hadn't gone far when we heard faint talking. It was impossible to tell if it was English or German. I prayed it was English.

"Flash." Winters said for the millionth time that night.

"Thunder." We heard multiple voices say, in English. We crawled out of the bushes and onto the tracks.

"Lieutenant, is that you?"

"Malarkey?" My head snapped up at the name.

"Don?" He looked past Winters, squinting a little. Relief flowed onto his face.

"O'Carroll, you're alright." I saw Winters looking at us before our two groups merged. Popeye and Toye were there too.

"Yes I am."

"Was that you who went flying past me with the hole in your parachute?" I winked.

"Yes siree."

"Well glad to see you then Ryley." He said softly. I smiled.

"Well Malarkey, I couldn't let you fight Germans without me." My hand ached. Just as I predicted. I wanted his hand to be holding mine. He seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Guarnere." I turned, I hadn't seen him.

"Sir?"

"You and Hall up front?"

"Who the hell is Hall?" Winters came to the back, just beyond Malarkey and me. He looked back and then at the two of us. It was only then we realized how close we were standing and we quickly put more distance between us, trying to act casually.

"Let's get moving." Winters said still looking curiously at us. We began walking with the gravel crunching softly under our boots. We had only been walking for a few minutes when we heard horses. It was well known that the Germans usually used carriages because of a gas shortage. We highly doubted it was one of ours. Winters ran quietly to where he could get a better few. He confirmed that they were Germans by setting a trap outside of the tunnel. The horses got closer. "Wait for my command." Winters raised his hand. The Germans were in the small tunnel. Suddenly there was shooting. Guarnere was releasing hell on the now bewildered Germans. We all jumped in and began firing as well. I let off a shot and watched as a German went down. It happened at least twice more. It wasn't long before the sounds of guns silenced and the Germans were dead. I held my gun tightly, slightly dazed. I had killed my first German. Three of them at least.

"That's enough Guarnere!" I shook my head clear, loosening my hold on the gun. Guarnere was serious when he said he was going to kill every last one of those Kraut bastards. "Everyone ok?" Winters was staring hard at Guarnere who just stared right back.

"Yes, sir." We mumbled as we went through the bodies. Malarkey kept a close eye on me but I was over my initial shock. Now I just told myself that it needed to be done. One of the horses neighed and I looked at Toye who was standing next to me. He nodded.

"Next time I say wait for my command, you wait for my command Sergeant." Winters was pissed.

"Yes sir." Everybody but me jumped when Toye shot the horse. I wish I could say it was because we wanted to put it out of its misery, but the truth was we didn't want our position to be given away even more.

"Here you go Lieutenant, Kraut weapon." Winters grabbed the weapon and followed Lipton.

"Fine, Quaker." I looked at Bill and decided to keep my mouth shut. There was no point in trying to talk with him when he was like this. He walked away and I turned back to stand with Malarkey and Hall.

"What's that guy's problem?" Hall looked at me and Malarkey. Don looked at him for a moment.

"Gonorrhea." He said simply as he walked by him.

"Really?" I laughed and Malarkey looked amused.

"His name, dummy, Guarnere, Gonorrhea, get it?" We continued forward.

"So besides having a shitty name, what's his problem?" A soldier standing in front of us turned. It was Bill.

"None of your fucking business, cowboy."

"Alright let's move out, quietly." I looked around.

"Too late for quietly I think." We stepped over the bodies and left the tunnels, continuing on our way to the objective.


	5. DDay

**Oh wow, this one is kind of long today... I guess I got inspired? I don't know. Ok the usual, I don't own any of the men. I only own Ryley and, in this chapter, Peterson. No disrespect is meant to any of the men.**

Chapter 5: D-Day

"So what happened after we jumped?" Malarkey asked as we trudge on through the field. Daylight was slowly taking over the darkness.

"Well, I was floating down like everyone else when a shell ripped through my parachute. So I went faster and landed a little harder than I wanted to. I was lucky though, I only jarred my knees a little, it could have been worse. The Winters came up and after that, there really isn't all that much to talk about."

"I hope we find everyone else." There were quiet murmurs of agreement as we trekked up a small hill and started walking along a small lake. I paused for only a second to admire the beauty of the sunrise reflecting on the water. We didn't really have time to appreciate such things.

"So how is everyone liking France?" Humor was all I could do to lighten the mood, I learned that from Luz. Most of the men just scoffed, one or two laughed.

"Oh, it's great, wonderful." Sarcasm, of course.

"It fucking sucks." Guarnere, of course. The sun was up now as we began to wade across the water. "Did you see him? He just sat there."

"He didn't have a weapon." Toye tried to reason with his friend. "What's he gonna do, shout at 'em?"

"Shouts at me for killing Krauts."

"He just wanted you to wait for his command."

"Joe, he don't even drink." This time I turned to Guarnere.

"You sat that like it's a bad thing."

"Jesus, O'Carroll, even you drink."

"Personally, I'm glad he doesn't drink. Would you really want to fight when your commanding officer is hung-over?"

"And, he's a Quaker."

"So the fuck what, Bill? Does it really matter?" He only glared at me this time. Then we headed into more woods. "More fucking trees, you have got to be kidding me."

"Sergeant." Winters reprimanded.

"Sorry, sir."

"Just come here." I trotted forward until I was walking next to him.

"Yes, sir?"

"I must say, you and Guarnere talk loudly."

"Ah, so you heard all of that sir?"

"Yes, I wanted to th-" We were out of the woods and saw a burning farm. Winters ordered us to a crouch. "Lipton, Wynn." The two went forward to make sure the area was clear. It was. We all stood back up and walked towards the building. Hanging from a tree not too far from the building was a poor paratrooper, long since dead. As I walked by, I said a quick prayer for him and did the sign of the cross.

"Anybody need supplies or ammo, now's the time to get it." I began moving from body to body, grabbing anything I needed. Winters pulled an M-1 off of the hanging boy, dumping his Kraut weapon. "McDowell, you okay?" I looked up, one of the 82nd boys was just staring; he turned to look at Lip.

"Yes, Sergeant." He obviously wasn't.

"Then let's go." I kneeled next to Toye as he held up a gun and began searching the body in front of him.

"Hey, I promised my kid brother I'd fetch him back a luger. So I get first dibs, okay?"

"Yes, Malarkey. Since we know you couldn't possibly find one on your own." He looked at me.

"Just check that one." And that was when planes flew overhead. While everyone else dropped down, me, Lip, and Winters continued what we were doing, only sparing a glance up.

"It's the Navy."

"The landings have started, let's go."

"Let's move it out." Hall was looking at his watch.

"Right on time." Guarnere looked up at him.

"Yeah, tell that to him, cowboy."

"Ease up, Guarnere."

"My name's Hall."

"That so?" Leave it to Guarnere to not listen to me.

"Let's move out." Malarkey turned to the kid.

"You just gotta learn to return his fire is all."

"You gotta realize it ain't about _you_." Toye walked by.

"He just heard his brother-"

"Malarkey, shut your yap." Guarnere brushed by me.

"His brother got it at Cassino," Malarkey said softer, "Found out before we jumped." Winters looked at Malarkey and his mouth dropped into a small 'o'.

"You didn't know that did you ,sir?" He only shook his head. "That's why you shouldn't take anything he said to me earlier too seriously." He nodded deep in thought as we walked on.

We were almost at the company assembly area, which was a relief. The path we were on now was muddy and a little hard to walk on.

"Morning, sir." There was a guy guarding a group of German prisoners. "Battalion sure will be happy to see you guys."

"Where?"

"At the farm, sir."

"Top of the mornin' to ya fellas, enjoying the war?" Malark said to the prisoners in a fake Irish accent. I sighed and kept walking, not really feeling up to taunting the men. "Where are you from, son?"

"Eugene, Oregon." I stopped walking.

"Eugene? You gotta be kidding me." I stayed rooted to the spot. You had to be kidding _me_. "Popeye, did you hear this? I'm from Astoria."

"You don't say."

"Yeah, and O'Carroll over there is from Eugene."

"O'Carroll?"

"Yeah, hold on." He ran up to me and grabbed my shoulder to turn me around. "Ryley, come here." My body moved behind him but my brain kept shouting at me to stop. There was only one person from Eugene who could possibly be sitting with a group of German POWs. We reached back to where the Germans were sitting. I was still behind Malark, so he didn't see me yet.

"The only O'Carroll I know who could possibly be here is a drunk." I stepped from behind Malark.

"He was a drunk, he stopped." Sitting right in front of me was none other than Lukas Herrman. It took him only a few seconds to recognize me, even in the state I was in.

"Well, this is a surprise. I didn't know they let girls in the Army."

"They don't."

"So you two know each other?"

"We dated." Lukas stated simply. Malarkey's mouth dropped in utter surprise. He quickly regained his composure.

"Well, what gives? What are you doing in a Kraut uniform?" I answered for him.

"Volksdeutsche." Malarkey looked at me confused.

"Come again?" Lukas answered this time.

"My family answered the call. All true Aryans should return to the Fatherland. Joined up in '41." I scoffed.

"You're shitting me, right?"

"Wish he was."

"Hey Malarkey, O'Carroll, stop fraternizing with the enemy. Get over here." I went to go, but Don held me back and waved for the person to hang on.

"What got you to Eugene?"

"I was born in Eugene."

"Really?" Lukas only nodded. "And you too," He gestured to the two of us, "Dated?"

"He's an asshole."

"She was going to be my fiancé." I spoke up at the same time as him. He looked at me. "You're the one who punched me in the face, you broke my nose, you know."

"Good, maybe you should have thought it through when you asked me to marry you and join the Nazi party. I mean really? What on earth made you think I would say yes to that?"

"You weren't as outspoken back then."

"You really didn't know me very well then." Malarkey was standing in stunned silence, obviously not expecting the hatred radiating between me and the German-American.

"You know my offer still stands, perhaps the Füher will let you live if you are married to a German soldier and stop fighting us." I scoffed again.

"As if you are really in the position to talk about life or death." I gestured to the general surroundings.

His voice lowered. "I always loved you, you know? Sill kind of do." I spit on the ground in front of him and he grabbed my wrist roughly. He had no chance to say anything before Malarkey had his gun against Lukas' head.

"Let her go." He hissed violently. His eyes narrowed. Lukas studied Malarkey with, what appeared to be, amusement.

"I see that she has you under her spell." Lukas released his grip and I pulled my hand away. Malarkey relaxed a little, lowering his gun. Popeye came up then.

"Hey, Malark, O'Carroll, we're waiting on you."

"Yeah, we're coming." I turned and walked away. Malarkey's eyes never left Lukas' until we were a few feet away.

"See you around." Lukas said softly.

I turned. "Don't count on it." With that, me, Malarkey, and Popeye began to hurry our way to the assembly area, passing Lieutenant Speirs on the way. We had almost reached the small barricade of dead horses when we heard gunshots. We quickly turned around, all three of us yanking our guns off our shoulders.

"Shit." We knew all of the Krauts were dead now. Lukas included. Malarkey turned to see my reaction. I only shrugged.

"They probably tried to escape." Popeye nodded and the three of us continued walking. The three of us plopped down next to Toye and the other Easy company men. Malarkey looking deep in thought and perhaps a bit flustered.

"Hey, Malark, where's the best chow?" He stayed silent. "In Berlin." Popeye leaned forward.

"You aren't upset about those POWs, are you?" He shook his head and gave me a look clearly saying, 'We need to talk.' We watched as Speirs walked by. "While I'm not a big fan of Krauts, I can't believe he killed them..." Popeye trailed off. Toye sat up.

"Wait, what? You talking 'bout those German prisoners we passed?" I nodded. "He shot them all? Holy shit, you're kidding right?"

"Nope, we heard the gunshots, right Malark?"

"yup." Joe looked at Wynn and Don.

"Well I guess there are less Germans we have to worry about."

"Why are we even fighting the Germans?" We all turned to Hall.

"Well, besides the fact they are trying to take over the world, I'm sure there is a good reason."

"They are in league with Japan, and that's good enough for me." Slanted eyed bastards, attacking our country like that. Those-"

"Stop it." Everyone looked at me. "You're no better than them when you make comments like that Peterson."

"Why so you care so much?"

"Because I know how it is to be treated like an inferior. Because some men, like you Peterson, are just absolute jackasses who don't know what they are talking about." He muttered something under his breath and shot me a glare.

* * *

"The 88's we've been hearing have been spotted in a field, down the road aways. Major Strayer wants us to take 'em out." I held in my groan. We all stood around a stack of hay as Winters explained what we were to do. Even drawing a little picture for us. "There are two guns that we know of, firing on Utah Beach, and plan on a third and a fourth, here and here." He added two more x's to the picture. "The Germans are in the trenches, with access to the entire battery and with machine-gun cover in the rear. We'll establish a base of fire and move under it hard and fast with two squads of three or four."

"How many Krauts they think we facing?" Winters looked at Bill.

"No idea."

"No idea?" Guarnere didn't bother to conceal the disbelief in his voice.

"We'll take some TNT along with us, to spike the guns. Lipton, your responsibility."

"Yes, sir."

"Liebgott, you'll take the first machine-gun with Petty, A gunner. Plesha, Hendrix, you take the other. Who does that leave?" The rest of us raised our hands, Hall included. "Compton, Malarkey , Toye, Guarnere, O'Carroll. Okay. We'll be making the main assault."

"Alright, let's pack it up, boys." We all turned to leave.

"Oh, Sergeant O'Carroll."I turned back to Winters.

"Yes, sir?"

"You've been promoted to Staff Sergeant, so congratulations."

"Thank you, sir."

"Shouldn't you be outside with the other Able Company guys?" Toye was talking to Hall.

"See you around, Cowboy." Guarnere, for once, was being semi-nice to the kid. We all walked out and began getting ready for the assault.

"Alright, you heard the word, let's move, let's move." Peterson came up to me. But I paid him no mind. I was too busy thinking about the attack we were getting ready for. Yes, I had already killed my first German but that was a small ambush, this was going to be my first real fight.

"So, O'Carroll, you seem a little worried, lost your balls or something?" I tried to pay no attention to him. "Oh, right, you never had any, you're just a stupid little bitch." I spun around to see if anybody heard him. I was in luck.

"I have more balls than you ever will Corporal Peterson." I pulled out the only real weapon I had against him, my rank. "You would do well to keep your mouth shut."

"I won't take orders from no whore. The others may be blind and stupid, but I know full well about you."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know. The way Malarkey swoons every time he sees you, please. And how everyone else is so protective of you, you won't put me under your spell." And he walked away. That was the second time I was accused of putting people under my spell in one day. I was baffled by two things. What on earth did I do to deserve such hatred and while I figured Malarkey had some feelings for me, it wasn't that obvious, was it?

* * *

We made our way to our new assignment, being as silent as we could. He didn't have to say anything, but the smug look on Peterson's face scared me of what he was going to do after this attack. We didn't have enough time beforehand to do anything. Or so I hoped. We looked through the trees, as best we could, to see the guns on the other side. Winters climbed into an old, broken down truck to get a better view. Lots of hand signals were made as we prepared for the attack. Winters squatted to talk to the group I was with.

"Petty, we've got fire."

"Right let's go, stay down." The two men got into position and the rest of us followed Buck.

"MG-42s."

"I'll draw their fire to the right from the truck. Take two men with you and hit 'em from the left. Okay go, O'Carroll, you're with me." Malarkey looked pissed. Not only was I in the assault in the first place, but I was going to be one of the ones charging across the field. We walked away from them and Winters gave a few more orders before having the machine guns begin firing. The Krauts began firing back and Winters and I both fired into the fray. "Come on Buck." I heard him mutter before firing another shot. We got the sign we were looking for when three grenades exploded in the trench and Buck, Guarnere, and Don all jumped into it. "Let's go, let's go! Follow me!" Had it been anybody but Winters, I probably wouldn't have followed his crazy ass across that field with bullets flying this way and that. But it was, so I did. As we ran, we fired as many shots as we could while still avoiding bullets. We quickly made it to the trench, but not all of us were unharmed. Popeye got hit right in the ass.

"Oh, fuck! It just got my ass!" I ran over and pulled him into the trench. I began firing again while trying to help Popeye. "Sorry, sir. Shit, I'm sorry, sir." Toye ran over to help with Popeye so I returned my attention to the Germans. "I screwed up."

"Grenade!" The call didn't register with me and Joe. Until Winters began yelling again. "R- Patrick, Joe, roll on, roll on!" We both jumped onto Popeye at just the correct moment, not really helping his pain.

"God!" We both checked everywhere to see that we were still in one piece. Guarnere watched concerned. Joe checked to make sure everything between his legs was still there. By the look of relief on his face, I assumed it was.

"You are one lucky bastard, Joe." Guarnere said before he returned to shooting.

"Guarnere, Malarkey, O'Carroll, Lorraine, secure that gun!" We moved in the direction that Winters had just came from. All bullets seemed to be concentrated on us as we moved up to the gun.

"Lorraine, through, go! Malark, Ryley!" We began shooting back at Guarnere's words.

"I think one of those dead Krauts has a Luger." I stared at Malarkey incredulously.

"You're shittin' me right?"

"So what?" We hid from another barrage of bullets.

"Keep your head low Petty, c'mon, move it!" Liebgott, Petty, and Peterson came into the trench. Peterson looked thoroughly pissed when he saw me.

"Have a little suppressing fire, why don't you? Jesus Christ!"

"Thank God!" I was too busy looking at the machine-gun being set up.

"Malarkey!" I turned. He was running out onto the field.

"What the _fuck_!" He stopped at one of the German bodies and dropped down.

"Now you stop firing? Beautiful!" I watched as he stayed prone on the field.

"Christ, they must think he's a medic or something."I moved slowly to a crouched position.

"He's gonna need a goddamn medic. Ryley, don't do anything stupid!" But Guarnere was too late. I was already running out to get Don.

"Malarkey!" I yelled as I ran toward him. He got up and began running to me. The Germans resumed firing. "Get low!" I yelled and pulled him down, causing the both of us to slide and hit the ground hard. The others were yelling at us now.

"What the hell are you doin', c'mon!" We got up and hauled ass back, dodging as many bullets as we could. We jumped back to safety, my arm stinging from what I believed was the fall.

"You idiot, Malarkey! I can't stop you from dying when you do something like that!" I gestured toward the field and then saw the blood gushing from my left forearm. My face paled a little. "Oh."

"Forgot your friggin' Luger? You want I should get it for you, you stupid Mick? No offense Ryley." Guarnere turned to glance at me. "Oh shit!" Winters ran up.

"Where's Lipton with that TNT?"

"Don't know, sir. We have a bigger problem." He pointed to me, blood still pouring out of my wound. I had taken my gun out and was trying to shoot using just my right hand.

"O'Carroll!" I gazed at Winters, slightly dazed. "Let me see your arm!" I held out my arm and he opened a pack of sulfa powder onto it. "Can you make it back?"

"I think so sir, but I should stay he-"

""You stay here, you'll bleed to death, now get back to the assembly area!"

"Damn it!" I jumped out of the trench and stayed low, crossing the field we had run across at the start of the attack. I heard a noise beside me and saw Peterson crawling fast. "Peterson, what the hell are you doing?"

" I'm going to talk to Battalion maybe they'll do something about you since no one else will."

"Right now? Are you fucking serious?" He crawled faster until he ran into Lip who was crawling towards where we were coming from. He patted his arm.

"Hey Sarge! I'm looking for Battalion headquarters!" Lipton stared disbelievingly at him.

"Are you kidding?" He shook his head. "It's back that away!" Lipton made a gesture to where I had been heading anyways.

"You mean over-" He didn't have time to finish his question. A bullet tore through his helmet and most of his head. Lipton continued on his way and I continued on mine. As soon I was out of any line of fire, I stood up and began running back. I would at least try to be helpful by telling headquarters that they needed ammo badly back there. I ran into Speirs, he would have to be good enough.

"Lieutenant! They need ammo back there and quickly!"

"I'm on my way," He nodded at my arm, "Get yourself to an aid station." He went of running and I slowly made my way to the aid station. Luckily Doc Roe was there I went up to him.

"Yes, Ryley?"

"Doc, my arm." And then I collapsed.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open to Doc holding smelling salts to my nose.

"Come on O'Carroll, you gotta get up. Your blood loss was pretty significant, but luckily the bullet went straight through. Hit no bones. I patched it up with a pressure bandage and was able to convince the other medics that you didn't need to get sent out. It's already stopped bleeding and everything." I smiled my thanks. "Try not to use it too much just yet, you don't want to reopen the wound."

"So, I don't have to leave?"

"Nope."

"Oh, thank you!" He held out a small package for me.

"Here are your, um, 'supplies'." He said awkwardly. I laughed at the red going to his cheeks.

"Thank you, these are those tampon things right? I know other women don't trust them yet, but they are perfect in my situation." I said softly. He turned redder and only nodded. I laughed again. "I'm so sorry Doc!" He waved it away.

"It's no problem. Now just remember to be careful." He reminded me once more before he shuffled off. I quickly emptied the package's things into some of the pockets in my uniform before I walked out of the aid station to meet up with the rest of Easy Company. Well, what had been found of Easy Company.

"Hey, O'Carroll, still with us I see." I smirked at Guarnere.

"Eh, it was only a flesh wound. Did anybody else get wounded?"

"Besides you and Popeye? Nah. We lost Peterson and Hall though."

"Oh, that's a shame." And while it really was a shame, I was kind of glad that I didn't have to worry about Peterson.

"Yeah Hall was only your age, ya know." I was about to respond when Malarkey caught sight of me and rushed over.

"Damn it Ryley, are you okay? I'm sorry, it's my fault, I shouldn't have run out there, not that you should have followed me either but still-"

"You would have died if I hadn't knocked you down."

"You could have too!"

"But I didn't." He sighed in resignation and looked around. Guarnere had left not wanting to be involved with any argument.

"We have a bit of a walk ahead of us, so maybe we can talk about earlier. About you and that German from Eugene."

"Lukas? Is that what you were so worried about?" Malarkey nodded. "Well it is basically as he said. We dated and blah, blah, blah. I then realized he was an asshole so I punched him in the face. He is a traitor. That's why I didn't seem all that concerned when he was killed. Is that what was bothering you? That I didn't care that someone I knew was shot?" He shook his head. "Then wha-"

"Would you have married him?" He blurted out. "If he hadn't decided to go to Germany?"

"That's what you are concerned about?" I stared at him in amazement.

"Well, I... I'm just glad, that you didn't end up with such an asshole." He put his words together slowly.

"No I wasn't going to marry him, if that makes you feel better."

"Why not? Didn't you love him?"

"No I never did." He seemed relieved. An awkward silence fell between the two of us. "Well, let's get moving."

* * *

We had an hour's rest before we had to move once more. Most of Easy Company was still missing at this point , but for the few of us who were together, we huddled in the back of a covered truck.

"O'Carroll, what's up?"

"I don't want to die in the back of this damn truck, is what." I shifted and coughed. "That really smells you know."

"C'mon, you're stepping on my legs!"

"Oh, don't be a baby."

"Jesus, let me out of here." Liebgott opened the flap and jumped out.

"Light, Light discipline."

"Yes mother dearest." Lipton glared at me before laughing.

"Guarnere, close the flap."

"Let the Krauts cook their own goddamn food." He closed the flap and shifted to where Liebgott had been sitting. Lipton moved over too, giving me more room. "How are we doing Malark?" Malarkey tasted what was cooking in the cartridge box.

"We're doing good."

"Doing good?" Buck asked, peering in the box as Malarkey returned it to over the fire.

"Yeah."

"What the hell do you know about cooking, you're Irish."

"Offense has been taken." Buck grinned at me.

"Sir, if you have a reservation someplace else-"

"Just start dishing it."

"Ladies first." He dished my plate out first.

"Thank you."

"Aw shit, c'mon Malark. O'Carroll here is just as much of a man as any of us."

"Well, too bad for you."

"Shit this really does smell, Jesus Christ give me some air." Guarnere opened the flap and stuck his head out for a few seconds before closing it again. I took a bite of the food, if that's what you could call it.

"Well, I'll be damned Malark, this isn't half bad once you get past the smell." He beamed at my approval. Suddenly, Winters appeared under the flap.

"Evening." We all turned to him.

"Hello, sir."

"Did something die in here?"

"Yeah, Malarkey's ass." Don lightly punched my shoulder.

"Any word on Lieutenant Meehan yet, sir?"

"No, not yet." We all looked at each other, Guarnere looked at Winters with a new-found respect from the attack today.

"Don't that make you are commanding officer, sir?"

"Yeah, it does." Guarnere nodded at him.

"Sir?" Toye offered him his drink.

"Joe, the Lieutenant don't drink." This time he didn't say that like it was a bad thing. Winters surprised us all by grabbing the bottle.

"It's been a day of firsts." He took a sip and made a face as the liquid burned down his throat. "Don't you think, Guarnere?" He nodded.

"Yes, sir." He took the bottle from Winters, took a sip and then handed it to me.

"Carry on." I began to take a sip when Winters popped back in. "Oh Sergeant."

"Sir?"

"I'm not a Quaker." I tried my hardest not to spray the liquid everywhere and took a huge gulp. None of us could hold back our laughter. I passed the drink on as Winters left again. I grabbed Guarnere's shoulder and shook him a little.

"If he's from Lancaster county, he's probably a Mennonite." I scoffed.

"Oh please."

"What's a Mennonite?" I brought my palm to my face.

"Good Lord..."

"Let's just enjoy the short amount of time we have left."

"In this smell? Naw, I'm out of here." I crawled out over Guarnere and Lipton with Malarkey close behind.

"Can't let O'Carroll get lost now." He said as we jumped out of the truck, closing the flap behind us. We walked a little before finding a semi-secluded place to sit down.

"So, I heard you're up for a Bronze Star."

"You're up for a Silver Star, and you got a Purple Heart, even though you weren't sent to the hospital."

"A Silver Star? For what?"

"Running out to get me was probably part of it. Here," He pulled out a Purple Heart. "I told them I would hold onto it for you until you came to; they were really eager to get out of there."

"Wait, you visited me at the aid station?"

"Never left your side once we got back from the attack."

"Why?" I regretted asking it as soon as it slipped out of my mouth. He frowned slightly.

"Don't you know?" He turned to look at me, but I had already closed my eyes to pretend that I had drifted off to sleep. Luckily, Malarkey didn't doubt my ruse. He sighed and moved me to where my head rested comfortably on his shoulder. He went to put his arm around me, but pulled it back. There were too many other people around. "Oh, Ryley," He muttered softly into my hair. "If you only knew that I would die for you." I held my tongue. Fighting the urge to tell him that I couldn't let him do that. My life wouldn't be worth living if he wasn't in it.

**So I was going to cut this chapter in half... but I couldn't find a place that was good enough to cut. I am sooooo sorry that this is soooo long. And if you're mad at me for completely changing that whole German POW scene and how Malarkey in turn, feels about it; I'm sorry. ****And on a side note: I'm trying to not develop their relationship too quickly, but it is really hard. I mean they have known each other for 2 years now and the feelings they had were already blossoming before a year but yeah... I'll shut up now. Please review!**


	6. Through His Eyes

**This is a chapter from MALARKEY's POV. The first part is a little cheezy I know. I'm horrible at this stuff. Oh and this is much shorter than last chapter. Please review. And also I do not own Band of Brothers. Only Ryley.**

Chapter 6: Through His Eyes

I watched the emotions that flit across her face. Anger. Sadness. Fear. I didn't know what she was dreaming about, but I wanted nothing more than to rush into that dream world and protect her from it. But I couldn't do that. And I couldn't wake her just yet, pull her out of the hell of her dreams into the hell of reality. I didn't know which was worse for her, but she needed her rest. So I was stuck watching her pain, being unable to do anything. I really hated that feeling, gnawing at my entire being. I swore at that moment if we made it through this war, I would work my hardest to protect her from pain. I wasn't naïve enough to believe I could fully protect her during this war. I remembered easily the time she told me that this is war "something is bound to happen." I chuckled softly at the memory. Her personality was always as fiery as my hair. It was hard to believe I had met her a little over two years ago. As corny as it sounds, I felt as if I had known her forever. When she first told me the truth, I began to feel a strange need to protect her. I figured it was because she was like a little sister, I mean, that is how all of the other guys felt. But then, I had to admit the truth to myself when I got overprotective. Even then, I thought it would pass eventually. It never did. It only grew stronger every time I saw her face or heard her name. She shifted a little, and I looked at her smiling face. I felt relief that she was smiling now, but also pity because I would have to wake her soon. She was wearing the same smile I had when I thought of the field behind my house. When I dreamed of her there with me, laying in the soft grass, feeling the cool breeze-

"Okay men, get up, we have to get moving soon." I sighed and looked at the smiling face one last time, taking it in before I had to make it disappear. I shifted her head off of my shoulder and onto the wall behind her. Standing up, I stretched my now aching muscles. I hadn't dared to move for fear of waking her up. My fears were justified when I heard movement behind me.

"Hullo, Malark." She said groggily. I turned to see her rubbing her sleep filled eyes.

"Hello to you too." She slowly stood up and I resisted the urge to help her.

"I guess it's time we get going?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Have to find everyone else."

"Yeah."

"I wonder if they passed out from the smell." I heard the soft, clear laughter I had grown to love. It was rare after the first week of basic training. And even when you heard it these days, there was a sadness. Not just in her eyes, but in the laugh itself. I would have to fix that somehow.

"Malarkey?" She pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?"

"You coming?"

"If I have to." She stared at me.

"If you have to? Jesus, Malark, what's wrong?" Leave it to her to notice.

"Nothing's wrong Ry." Which wasn't a total lie. I started walking. She eyed me suspiciously, but then let it go and began walking.

"So, I've been thinking about yesterday, I think that Winters might know." I stopped and felt my heart stop with me. She looked at me curiously. "Don?"

"Is it... is it my fault? For being so overprotective?"

"No, I'm afraid Peterson might have told him, but I can't be sure. So I'm obviously not going to bother asking." I continued moving, feeling only a little relieved that it wasn't my fault and they weren't putting her against a wall to get shot, yet.

"Peterson? I know he was a sexist pig, but why the change of heart after two years of dealing with you?"

"Dealing with me? Jeez thanks." She chuckled. Then she sighed and ran her hand through her hair before putting her helmet on. She did that a lot and I wondered briefly if she missed having long hair and what her hair looked like. "I honestly don't know what his problem was though. Maybe he was jealous or maybe it's just because this damn war is driving everybody completely crazy. I mean hell, I know it's driving me crazy." I grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"You know I'm here for you, right? Whether you are crazy or not." She looked at me questioningly. "Ryley, listen, I would do anything for you, you realize that right?" Her eyes seemed to water up. Why would she cry when I tell her that? That can't be a good sign. Well I got this far, I had to continue. "Ry, I-"

"O'Carroll, Malark, hurry your asses up!" We both turned to see Guarnere waving for us. If ever I wanted to kill that man, it was now.

"Found 'em Malarkey!" She looked at me. The smile on her face faltered for a second. 'We'll talk later.' She mouthed. I started walking towards Guarnere. I turned to face her.

"Well hurry your slow ass up O'Carroll." I nodded to her. 'Of course.' I mouthed back.

* * *

'Later' had yet to come. Two days had passed since D-Day. Easy Company men were slowly trickling in every once in a while. We were waiting to hear which town we would be going to un-Germanfy.

"Hey, fellas." I looked up and smiled to see more of Easy Company appearing.

"Well, look who decided to show up, Floyd."

"Hi there, Luz, we thought we'd never find you guys."

"Hey, Tab, get a load of this." Liebgott held up the Nazi flag he had been showing off to everybody whenever he got the chance. "You like that?"

"Yeah, it's the real stuff, man."

"Yeah, of course."

"You like this?" Talbert pulled out something camouflage. I didn't bother to try and figure out what it was.

"Oh, come on Floyd, that's weak." They all turned to Ryley who was smiling and grabbing something out of her pack. "Now, this is a souvenir." She held up her parachute showing off the gigantic rip slashed through it.

"Oh, nice, that's a beauty, Sarge!" She put it back.

"I know, Luz."

"That was your parachute? What'd you jump into a blender or something?" She winked.

"Aw, don't be jealous Floyd." He only shook his head.

"My Luger's gonna put you all to shame when I get it."

"Please, Hoobs, we get it. You're worse than Malarkey here," Luz patted my arm. "Who not only almost got himself killed to try to get one, but also poor O'Carroll here. Ain't that right, Ryley?" I felt my ears heat up and I'm sure they turned red.

"Nah, I just wanted to get a battle scar, they're considered sexy, you know."

"Yeah, on men. Not on broads." A chorus of 'Oh's' went around. Ryley chuckled.

"Okay, you got me there Luz. Scars are for men, not women." She paused for a second. "That explains why you don't have any battle scars." A louder chorus of 'Oh's' went around. There was always an ongoing competition between her and Luz. They were about even, but Ryley was a little better.

"Let's go, 1st platoon!" We all shuffled over, even though a few of us weren't 1st, myself included, we had nothing better to do. "Easy's moving out. On your feet." We gathered around Welsh. "Listen up! It'll be dark soon. I want light and noise discipline from here on. No talking, no smoking-"

"No smiling, no breathing."

"O'Carroll, quiet. And no playing grab-fanny with the man in front of you, Luz." Luz elbowed Ryley and whispered to her.

"Only if you're the one in front of me." He winked and she laughed, playfully shoving him.

"Oh, please." She said still laughing. I had to scold myself as I felt a twinge of jealousy. They were just friends, heck, so were we.

"So, where we headed to, Lieutenant, huh?"

"We're taking Carentan."

"That sounds like fun."

"It's the only place where armor from Omaha and Utah Beach can link up and head inland. Until we take Carentan, they're stuck on the sand."

"So no pressure guys." Ryley said, looking around. She smiled when she saw me. Did her heart jump like this when I smiled at her?"

"General Taylor's sending the whole division." Luz scoffed.

"Remember, boys..." He said in his best General Taylor voice, which was pretty damn good. "Give me three days, and three nights of hard fighting and you will be relieved." Mutters all around.

"Lieutenant, Lieutenant, I'll take point."

"Corporal Hoobler will be lead scout. Blithe, glad you could join us."

"Thank you, sir."

"1st platoon, fall in behind Fox Company. You people from 2nd and 3rd platoon, follow us. Let's shake a leg." We began walking.

"Another thing to remember, boys," Luz as Taylor again. "Flies spread disease. So keep yours closed." Laughter.

"Trust him, he knows from personal experience." Score: Luz, 0. Ryley, 2.

We walked on as the sky darkened. The only light to lead the way were the trucks that were on fire. WE were stopped once more. According to Perconte, we had lost F Company.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Again?"

* * *

Four days later, we reached Carentan. I would have been happy to see it, if it wasn't, of course, filled with Germans. We crouched on the road, getting ready for the attack. Why they wanted us to try and go right up the main road into town made no sense to me. But I was somewhat relieved. Winters wanted Ryley to stay back with him, just in case her wound opened again. Which was total bullshit because it had almost completely become a scar now. The chances of it reopening now were slim to none. I don't know if she was more pissed by that, or when I told Winters it was a good idea. Either way, she didn't calm down until Winters told her that reopening her wound would send her home. That definitely stopped her arguing, reducing her to just muttering how her wound was fine now. I shifted slightly. The town was quiet, all that could be heard was the sound of dogs. Never a good sign.

"Let's go 1st, let's go." The attack was starting.

"Go, go, go!" We all began running down the road. And as was expected, the firing started.

"In the ditch!" We all jumped to the side.

"Incoming!" I caught a glimpse of Luz and Welsh making it to behind a building by myself. I knew this wasn't going to work.

"Let's go, Easy."

"Get those MGs moving, will ya!" I was tempted to hit Colonel Strayer upside the head with my gun, this was partially his fault.

"Let's get them out of there!"

"They're out in the open for Pete's sake!" 'They' meaning Winters and, my heart dropped, Ryley. They were standing in the middle of the road, yelling at everyone to get moving.

"Go, go!" Winters was yelling.

"Get your asses out of that ditch! C'mon, so we can kill those fuckers!" O'Carroll was yelling. She was louder than Winters. Much louder. He glanced at her for only a second.

"Get going, Buck. Follow me Easy!"

"You heard the ,man, c'mon guys! Get the hell out of that ditch."

"Move out!"

"If I can stand out here, so can you!"

"Move out, men! Go." Bullets were whizzing by the two of them. If someone had told me about what those two were doing, I wouldn't believe them. I could scarcely believe my own eyes.

"C'mon! Let's teach those bastards a lesson!"

"Move out, move out! Get yourselves out of that ditch!" Winters jumped in and grabbed some one, trying to pull them up. "We have men getting killed out there, Blithe! Move!" He began hitting people with his helmet. Ryley jumped into the ditch next to me. She didn't yell, she didn't have to say anything. The pleading in her eyes was the only motivation that I needed. I clambered out of the ditch but not onto the main road. I was followed by others as we began to go through the grass toward the town. With me I saw Skip, which was comforting. If I was going to die, it would be near a friend. We took cover behind a building and began firing when we could at the machine gun. We both watched as Welsh ran up to the window where the machine gun was and threw a grenade in. It was official. I was in a company with a bunch of insane people. Between him, Winters, and O'Carroll, we had enough crazy to fill an asylum.

"Hey, Malark, let's go." I followed Skip as we ran to get to the next building. Explosions. We looked around.

"They got us zeroed! Spread it out! Spread it out! Go!" We looked and saw Lipton running down some stairs. I ran to the wall closest to me and watched as Lipton yelled at us to get out of the street as he stood in the middle of the street.

"C'mon, C'mon take your own advice." I found myself muttering. I ran and continued moving along the wall. I jumped to the ground when I heard another explosion. I turned back to see Lip on the ground. "Shit!" To make it worse, Ryley was the one to run to his aid.

"Lip!" I recognized her voice immediately. She tied a cloth around his arm. I could see her mouth moving but was too far to make out the whispers. Lip had eyes for one thing. Even I could see the blood on his pants. We men were all very protective of that, what could I say? I got up and crouched against the wall, still watching the scene.

"Lip, I'm gonna check for you buddy, is that okay?" I read the words as they formed on her lips. He nodded and she ripped a small whole into his pants and checked. "You're okay, Lip. Everything's right where it should be." He nodded, relieved. I'm sure that they would be completely embarrassed by this, especially Ryley, had it been any other kind of situation. For now though, she was too worried about her friend to care. As she helped him up I turned to continue onto the town, assuming she was going to safety now. I ran straight into Muck.

"Shit, I'm sorry." He smiled.

"Stop your dawdling Malarkey, let's go." I followed after him. We stopped, briefly taking shelter under an arch. "Hey, Malark." I turned to look at Skip. "You see what I'm seeing?" He gestured with his head to the street. I bent forward and looked. What he was seeing was a chaplain kneeling over somebody in the middle of the street. He was holding a rosary and a bible, giving the man a final prayer.

"Crazy fools the Irish." I ran to the next column to shoot.

"You should know." I fired, taking down at least two Germans in the process.

"Look at Welsh and O'Carroll too."

"Oh, I think you look at O'Carroll enough for the both of us." I turned to see his smirk.

"What are you tal-"

"Oh, come on Malarkey. I think I know you well enough to notice that. Penkala noticed too."

"Now is not a good time for this conversation." I grunted as I took another shot.

"Well," He took a shot. "If it makes you feel better, we are pretty sire she feels the same about you." I concealed my shock as best I could. "She's just afraid to show it."

"We are kind of in the middle of a war, and," Another shot. "She is supposed to be a he, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get going. I can harass you about it later." I followed behind him. Even amidst all of the shooting and yelling, I couldn't help but smile. He had confirmed what I had been hoping for.


	7. I Don't Like it When You Call Me Patrick

**Wow, another looong chapter. Not much to say, just the usual. Review. Let me know what needs fixing or is good. It is based mainly of HBO's series of Band of Brothers which I don't own. I only own Ryley. No disrespect is meant to the men at all. **

Chapter 7: I Don't Like it When You Call Me Patrick

"O'Carroll." I looked up to see Winters. I quickly stood.

"Sir, I'm sorry, I know you said stick with you the entire time."

"Did you reopen your wound?"

"Uh, no, sir."

"Then it is okay this time. I wanted to thank you for getting Lipton out of there and to the aid station. And for helping to motivate the men."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about the language, sir." I turned a little red. His eyes twinkled.

"Not exactly the words I would have chosen, but still it worked. Now, come on, you're stuck with me for the rest of this attack, and I'm sure your wound will be fine so you can get back to your squad afterwards."

"Yes, sir!" We began walking. "So how is Lip doing, sir?"

"He's doing well. After the initial shock wore off he was just as eager as you to get back."

"Sir. if I may ask, why am I being babied like this?" If he knew, this is when I would find out.

"Well Sergeant, I'd rather not send any of my men home if I can prevent it."

"Sir, I got this wound like a week ago, I'm fine."

"O'Carroll, don't tell anyone I said this, but you are one of the best NCO's we got. Now, I'm not gonna risk losing you if I don't need to. And as I said, once we leave Carentan, you're back in." So maybe he didn't know.

"Ok, sir." We walked in silence for a few minutes. "What do you think Sobel would say if he saw you in charge of Easy, sir?"

"_Captain_ Sobel would probably make me go through the whole Courts Martial fiasco again." He chuckled. "As I recall, Sergeant, I'm not the only one he really didn't like. He seemed to give you latrine duty quite a bit." I groaned.

"Oh, please don't remind me, sir."

"I'm sorry, Sergeant."

"Eh, what can you do? The past is the past, right?" Before he could respond a U.S. Soldier riding a horse came up.

"Ho," He pulled the horse to a stop. "Morning, sir."

"What's your name, trooper?"

"Sergeant Farmsworth from Able company 501st." he said twisting around because the beautiful white horse wouldn't stay still. Both Winters and I couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm here and I'm supposed to tell you that we got it clear from here all the way to the north of them Krauts, sir."

"Well, tell your CO 506 arrived in force and secured all positions south of you."

"Yes, sir, I'll tell him. Come on, Bad Boy, let's go!" The horse galloped away.

"I think all Sergeants should be given horses." Winters laughed.

"Lieutenant Winters."We turned to see Nixon walking toward us and Strayer hiding out under an arch.

"Yes, sir?"

"Is it safe to cross now?" Nixon turned to look at Strayer. It took all of my willpower to keep my mouth shut.

"What's that, sir?"

"Is it safe to cross? We wanna move the wounded."

"Ah, yes, sir. Okay." I bit my tongue. Strayer and a few men with him walked out onto the street.

"Come on, let's get 'em out of here." They left and Winters and I walked up to Nixon. The three of us shared questioning looks before Winters turned to me.

"Sergeant, don't even say anything." We went to walk down the street when Winters suddenly got hit, but stayed standing.

"Sir, you okay? Where'd you get hit?" I let him put his weight on me.

"Leg. Ricochet I think."

"Well here, let me help you get to an aid station." I slung his arm over my shoulder and we slowly made our way back to the aid station.

"There she is." I sat next to Winters while Roe worked on his leg. He held up the scrap of metal. "You're lucky it was a ricochet. You just caught a piece of it." Winters looked at it and muttered.

"Stupid."

"What?"

"Nothing." Doc went about cleaning the wound.

"Now, you gonna be able to stay off it?"

"Doesn't look that way."

"I had to sit out for my arm." He looked at me. "Sorry, sir. I'll shut up now."

"Well, you gotta try, huh?" Buck walked up and took off his helmet.

"What have we got planned, chief?"

"Well, we expect a counterattack. Carentan's as important to them as it is to us."

"Any idea when?"

"We're not waiting around to find out. Battalion wants us to head east toward high ground, set up a defensive position. With all the flooded fields, it's the only direction they could approach from."

"Yeah. You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah."

"Good." He walked off.

"I'll be right back, sir."

"Don't go too far." I walked over to the corner where I saw Lipton sitting.

"Hey Lip." He looked up.

"Hey Ryley. Thanks for helping me out."

"Anything for a friend." He smiled. "So how is it?"

"Nothing big. Just a bunch of cuts basically."

"Well that's good."

"Yeah, I guess. I just want to be out there where I belong."

"Right there with you."

"Now I know how you feel. I don't like it." I nodded.

"Well, I'll see ya later Lip. I should get back to Winters."

"Yeah, see you."

* * *

"Berlin by Christmas." We all sat in the warm sun in the newly conquered town of Carentan. I was sitting in between Don and Penkala. "That's how I see it."

"I don't know."

"O'Carroll, don't be such a pessimist."

"No, I'm with her, you're full of it."

"Oh, God." We looked at Muck. "This Kraut cheese tastes like... it stinks."

"Bread's stale too." Penkala held up a piece for him.

"Give me that."

"Yes, sir, the way we came in town today and took over, you know, it don't seem like Jerry's got too much fight left in him."

"You still going on about that?"

"Hey, More, don't get hit in the face when Jerry throws in the sponge, alright?"

"You mark my words, Mal, Berlin by Christmas."

"Mal? That's a new one. Very feminine. It suits you."

"With all due respect, Sergeant, shut up." We laughed.

"Enjoy it while it lasts." We turned to see Speirs standing there. "We'll be moving out, soon."

"Out of town, Lieutenant? Already?"

"That's right." He walked through the group. Penkala stood up so he could get by.

"Don't they know we're just getting settled here?" We all looked at More, Speirs included. I held my breath. Everyone was silent. Speirs stared at More before turning back and walking away. Penkala returned to his seat.

"Nice, groucho."

"What?"

"Real smart. You know, you're taking your life into your own hands. Ain't that right?" Muck nodded at me and Malarkey.

"I told you, we didn't actually see it."

"We only heard the shots."

"What, Speirs shooting the prisoners or the Sergeant in his own platoon?"

"Sergeant?"

"What? I didn't hear that."

"Wait, wait, he shot one of his own guys?"

"Holy shit."

"Well, supposedly the guy was drunk and refused to go on a patrol. Who knows if it's true?"

"I think it's bullshit."

"Well, I know a guy who said an eyewitness," Muck threw a rock at Don who returned fire. "Told him Speirs hosed those prisoners."

"Why?" Blithe spoke up for the first time."What for?"

"On D-Day, Speirs comes across a group of Kraut prisoners digging a hole or some such. Under guard and all." Lukas' face shone clearly in my mind. "He breaks out a pack of smokes. Passes them out. He even gives 'em a light. Then, all of a sudden, he swings up his Thompson..." Muck imitated a shooting Thompson. "And he hoses 'em. I mean, goddamn, gives 'em smokes first? Mmm, you see that's why I don't believe he really did it."

"Oh, you don't believe it?"

"None of the guards had a Thompson, Muck."

"I heard he didn't do it."

"Oh, no, no, it was him alright. But there were more than 8 guys, was more like 20."

"Hell of a shot."

"All except one guy, who he left alone."

"Well, all I know, from what I heard, he took that last 105 on D-Day practically by himself. Running through MG fire like a maniac." Malarkey was nodding.

"Yeah, that I did see."

"What? I missed it?"

"It was after you left for the aid station."

"Oh." I laid down.

"On his own?"

"Yeah."

"I don't care if any of the other stuff's true."

"I kind of do. I don't want to be the Sergeant he decides to shoot."

"Hey, Albert." Muck threw something at Blithe.

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. I'm gonna have to take everybody's word for it. I didn't see any of it."

"Let's go. 1st Platoon., weapons on me. We're moving out."

"Aw man."

"Hey, take your smokes."

"On your feet, tactical column. Flankers, up."

"C'mon, Ryley." Malarkey pulled me to my feet. I still had yet to talk to him because, honestly, it was something I was trying to avoid. I didn't want to tell him how much I cared for him. How strongly I felt for him. We could die at any moment.

"That means you Private Blithe."

"Come on, Blithe, get up." More kicked him lightly. I grabbed all of my things and went to follow Don when Muck stopped me.

"Hey, Ryley."

"Yes, Muck?" He looked around before looking straight into my eyes.

"You should tell him."

"What?"

"I know you are probably thinking it would be stupid to, during a war, but think of it this way, it gives him more to fight for."

"Skip, I don-"

"Don't try to lie to me. Just promise me you will think about talking to him."

"Muck..."

"Promise."

"Okay, I'll think about it." He smiled.

"Let's move out."

* * *

"Luz."

"What?"

"How far we going?"

"Oh, Jesus Christ, Frank, I don't know. Until they tell us to stop."

"That sounds about right."

"O'Carroll?" I turned my attention to Toye.

"Yes?"

"What would you have done if you didn't join the war?"

"Hmm, I don't really know. Probably would have been thrown into a marriage and doing housewife shit."

"I can't really imagine you as a housewife."

"Really? Cause I can see you as one."

"Oh, shut it." There was gunfire so we all dropped down.

"Incoming! Contact right!" I started making my way to the hedgerow on the right. "Get in the hedgerow!"

"Stay low!" I lay down on the small ridge and began taking my shots. Aiming each one to get my target.

"Let's keep it up men! Hold on till nightfall!"

Nightfall came with more rain, less shooting, and German singing. I was sitting next to Malarkey in a foxhole we had dug just hours before. And I was failing at staying dry.

"I hate rain." He looked at me, amused.

"What has rain ever done to you?"

"I'm soaking wet and cold. That's what."

"We all are, Ryley." I crossed my arms.

"I wish they would stop singing."

"They are pretty horrible."

"To say the least."

"Ryley, you should get some sleep."

"Not tired, you were fighting all day, why don't you?"

"I'm not tired either." He yawned.

"Yeah, okay. Private Bullshit, get some rest."

"Fine." He closed his eyes. He fell into a deep sleep fairly quickly, which never failed to amaze me. I saw a shadow.

"Flash." I hissed out.

"Thunder."

"Lieutenant Welsh, that you?" He climbed into the hole.

"O'Carroll, how are you?" The man smelled like a brewery.

"Good, sir."

"Here, take a drink." He held out his canteen. It definitely did not contain water.

"Uh-"

"Don't make me order you, Sergeant." I took a quick sip and handed it back.

"Thank you, sir." He nodded.

"Stay out of trouble. I gotta go continue my rounds, see ya." And he was gone. It was dark and quiet. I hummed quietly to myself before I began singing softly.

"That certain night, the night we met, there was magic abroad in the air, there were angels dining at the Ritz and a Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. I may be right, I may be wrong, but I'm perfectly willing to swear that when you turn'd and smiled at me a nightingale sang in Berekly Square." I stopped as I heard footsteps.

"What a strange song choice O'Carroll." I'm glad Winters couldn't see my face turn beet red.

"It was always my sisters favorite. She always had me sing it. I'm afraid she was making fun of my voice." Shit, shit, shit.

"You have a beautiful singing voice, Sergeant. Sound like Ray Noble himself."

"That's too kind, sir." My voice was definitely higher than Noble's. Luckily I wasn't singing very loud or to my full potential, and he didn't seem to really notice.

"Medic!" We both turned to look in the direction of the yell.

"Talbert?" I stood up.

"Stay here Sergeant, I'll check it out." I nodded and waited in an impatient silence. It was a few minutes before he returned. "There was an accident, but everything is under control now. O'Carroll, be prepared they may attack before first light. Got that?" I nodded.

"Be careful, yes, sir." He left. I squinted at my watch. We still had some time. I sat back down.

"You never said you could sing." I almost jumped as Malarkey next to me mumbled. My face turned red again.

"You heard that?"

"If you ask me, sounded more like the Vera Lynn version than Noble's."

"Ah, um." I heard him laugh.

"I don't think Winters heard you hit the high notes, it's ok."

"Just go back to sleep, Don."

"Yes, Sergeant." I remembered what Muck had said.

_It gives him more to fight for._

There was no denying that. And who was I kidding, really? The feelings were there whether they were admitted out loud or not. Even Muck could tell. I would have to tell him. Eventually. Maybe when we returned to England. _If_ we returned to England.

* * *

D-Day plus 7

Don's eyes fluttered open as it became lighter. The Germans never attacked.

"Morning."

"Morning." Guarnere walked up.

"O'Carroll, let's go." I jumped out.

"See ya later, Mal." He laughed and waved me off.

"Later, Vera." Guarnere looked at me.

"Vera?"

"Don't ask. Where we going, Bill?"

"A meeting kind of thing, so we know what's up."

"Ah, of course."

"Of course." We joined the group around Welsh. He didn't seem the least bit hung-over.

"No we don't know what they've got. We may be attacking a weaker force, possibly more paratroopers."

"And you know how they can be."

"Hmm, fire and maneuver. That's the name of the game, fire and maneuver. Dog and Fox Companies will be on our left, your squad's left, O'Carroll, moving with us. Any questions?" Everyone shook their head. "Let's make 'em holler."

"It's 9:30 in the evening back home, must be." An unmistakable noise filled the air.

"Mortar!"

"Incoming!" We took cover. Welsh began yelling into Luz's radio. He pointed at me after throwing the speaker down.

"Go check on our mortars and then get back to your squad." I ran to where I saw the mortars already set up.

"How we doing, boys?"

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Malarkey began yelling out orders. "Right plus 15, charge three. Range, 600." They fired a round.

"Well, keep up the good work, I gotta go back to the line."

"Don't get killed!"

"Don't plan on it!" I ran to the left of the hedgerow where my squad was. I started firing. I could hear Winters behind us yelling to keep firing.

"O'Carroll! Nice work, keep it going! Keep your men firing!"

"You heard the man! Keep it up boys, we're doing good. Aim your shots men, hit those Germans." I saw some brush moving on the other side of the field. I looked closer. It wasn't brush. "Men, we've got tanks! Don't let them screw us up." They kept firing. "That's right! We can take them down!"

"Sir, Dog and Fox are gone!" I looked to my left. No one was there. The men were a little uneasy now.

"Fuck." I muttered. "That's okay men! Someone has to be the left flank and it's better us than those sissies!" I kept firing. They followed my example. Thank God. The tanks broke through the hedgerow on the other side. I stopped firing and went by each of my men, shouting encouragement and occasionally standing next to one to take a shot. "We got this, men." I ran back to my original position and resumed firing. I saw two people on the right run onto the field. "Welsh? What the- Don't hit the Lieutenant, men!" He had a bazooka with him. "C'mon, get those damn tanks." I murmured softly. The first shot just bounced off the top. The tank shot right over them and they fired a shot straight into the belly of it. "Nice shot!" The man next to me went down screaming. "Medic!" I carried him out of the trees where luckily a medic was. I handed the man off to the medic. When I got back, heaven arrived. Shermans. Our 2nd armored began doing their job. I could have died of happiness. "You see that men? I might have to run up there and kiss their commander." Laughs of relief filled the squad.

"Please, don't, Ryley! I don't want my eyes to burn." After that, the fighting didn't last much longer. We all loosened our grips on our guns and relaxed.

"Everyone ok?"

"Yes, sir."

"Awesome, let's go meet up with the rest of our platoon." They followed me untill we found them.

"Sergeant O'Carroll." I turned to see Nixon.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Your squad, they held their place even when everyone to your left ran. I was told to congratulate you."

"Me, sir? No it was all of my men."

"Well, they have a pretty good leader to follow the example of." He left. Don came up to me.

"You did good. I saw it from where I was."

"You're just saying that."

"Why would I be just saying that?"

"Because-" I turned to look him in the eyes and faltered. England. When we got to England.

* * *

It was D-Day plus 25 when we heard we were being pulled off the lines. 25. So much for 3 days. Both Malarkey and More were staring at me right now.

"Well?"

"You guys know this is really stupid, right?"

"Please, Ryley."

"Where am I supposed to sit?"

"You can hold onto More."

"I'm terrified of motorcycles."

"But you can jump out of an airplane?" I gave a resigned sigh.

"I can't believe I am fucking doing this." I jumped on the bike behind More. He started it and I held on tight, closing my eyes. "If we die, I'm gonna kill you both." They laughed and we began moving forward. At my first instinct, I held on tighter, but as I began to feel the wind blow against my face, I cracked open my eyes. Don smiled as I opened my eyes more. He cheered a little and the took a sip of his beer. I smiled and let out a cheer.

"That's the spirt, Ryley!"

"This is great!" We drove by an open field and I smiled wider. Malarkey offered me his beer.

"Want some?" I slowly removed one arm from around More and grabbed it, taking a few sips before handing it back. I tightened my grip with my legs and took my other arm from around More. I raised them both up and cheered again. The both of them began to laugh. I waved to a group of soldiers we drove by. I put my arms down by my side and smiled at Malarkey.

"See? What did I tell ya?"

"You were right Malark." He turned to More.

"She fancied me, Alton." I turned a little red. He was talking about an English girl who had helped us get the bike. More turned to tell him something when we heard a horn. I quickly grabbed onto More as we swereved around a truck.

"Jesus Christ!" The boys began to laugh.

"It's good to be alive!" We pulled to a stop and I quickly jumped off, stumbling a little, getting the use of my legs back. "Jesus Christ, that sure was close."

"Close? Close? That was more than close. We almost died!"

"Nah, missed him by a mile." I glared at More and followed them into the building.

"The Night of thw Bayonet." We walked behind Smokey who was begining to tell a story. "The night was filled with dark and cold, when Sergeant Talbert- the story's told, pulled on his poncho and headed out, to check the lines dressed as a Kraut." I patted Tab's arm.

"Why is everyone in such a hurry to get back, huh? Hospital food don't suit ya?" Malarkey made Liebgott scoot over so we could sit.

"Upon a trooper our hero came, fast asleep, he called his name, 'Smith, oh Smith! Get up, it's time, to take your turn out on the line.'" I turned to see the young kid looking my way. I gave him a thumbs up and smirked.

"Great job, Smith." He flushed red and turned back around.

"Nice, O'Carroll, harrass the kid why don't you."

"It's my job."

"... So very weary, cracked an eye, all red and bleary, grabbed his rifle, and did not tarry. Hearing Floyd, but seeing Jerry." We all laughed.

"Way to go, Smithy!" I was turned in my seat so I could hear better.

"'It's me', cried Tab, 'Don't do it', and yet Smith charged, tout de suite, with bayonet he lunged, both high and low, and skewered the boy from Kokomo." We appaluaded and cheered. "Since you weren't wounded by the enemy, and thus didn't qualify for a Purple Heart, we've taken matters into our own hand," He took off one of his three Purple Hearts and held it up, "Tab, this is for you." More cheers.

"I could have shot the kid a dozen times."

"Yeah, right."

"Bullshit!"

"I just didn't think we could spare a man." I was about to say something when Lip started talking.

"Couple of announcements, men. First, listen up," We turned our attention to him. "First, the training exercise scheduled for 2200 has been cnacelled." Everyone cheered, but I knew this couldn't be good. "Secondly, all passes are hereby revoked. We're heading back to France." I knew it. "So, pack up all your gear. We will not be returning to England, boys. Anyone who has not made out a will, go to the supply office. The trucks depart for Membury at 0700. As you were."

"Wow, what a downer." There were murmurs of agreement.

* * *

"Ryley, I'm going to pick up my laundry, wanna come?"

"Sure, I gotta get some too." We bothe put our covers on as we left the barracks. We strolled silently to the laundry building. He pushed open the door.

"Hello?" We stepped inside and removed our covers. "Hello?"

"Oh."

"Good morning, Miss Lamb. Um, sorry to bother you so early."

"That's alright Private..."

"Malarkey."

"And Sergeant O'Carroll." She hadn't seemed to have notice me.

"Come in."

"Actually, it's Sergeant Malarkey now, ma'am." I felt a twinge; he never spoke to me like that. "I just got promoted." It sounded like he was showing it off to her. Another twinge. I had heard he got promoted from Guarnere. When I had asked why he hadn't told me, he only shrugged it off.

"Oh, lovely. I expect you'll both be wanting your laundry. I heard the trucks rumbling by all night. Guess the Yanks must be on their way off again." He nodded. Maybe it was her accent?

"Yes, ma'am." I did not like the way she kept looking at him. "Looks like for good this time." She picked up two packages.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Er, two shirts, two pairs of trousers, each, light starch." She put them down. "Two bob and tuppence each, please."

"I'll pay for his too." Malarkey said as he dug through his pockets. Wow, some chiverly.

"That's not necess-"

"Trust me Patrick, it is." I hated hearing him call me that. He held the money in his hand out and the lady took what she needed. "Thank you."

"Thank you." She handed us our packages. I turned to leave. "Would you, er, like a cup of tea, Private? I've got the water boiling." I stopped. Now she was really pissing me off. Why on earth was I getting this wound up?

"No, no, thank you. I'm in a hell of a... bit of a hurry but, er, thank you anyway." He turned to leave.

"Oh, um, Private?" You had to be kidding me!

"Yes, ma'am?" We both turned back around. I'm sure I was glaring by now.

"Lieutenant Meehan's one of yours, isn't he?" My face softened. "I hope he hasn't forgotten his laundry." Me and Malarkey just stood there in stunned silence.

"I'll take it." He said, before I could say anything.

"Thank you." He handed her money and stared silently at the package. Her smiles at him went unnoticed. "You, um, couldn't be a dear and help me with a few others, could you?" Oh boy. Her attempt to keep him here longer was not going to be fun. "Er, let's see. Sergeant Evans."

_Dead._

"Private Moya."

_Dead._

"Blowzer."

_Dead._

"Miller, Owen, Collins, Elliot."

_All dead._

"Blithe."

_Severely wounded._ We both looked at each other. She looked at him hopefully. She couldn't possibly be that stupid. Her face paled when she finally figured out what our silence meant. "Oh my, are they all- all of them, dead?"

"Except Blithe." Was all I could get out.

"Oh my." She took Lieutenant Meehan's laundry back and returned what Malarkey had paid for it. "I apologize for my ignorance." We left and I jammed my cover back on.

"Well that was..." He trailed off. "Let's not talk about that." I nodded. We walked a little.

"She's pretty."

"Yup."

"Nice accent." He stared at me curiously. "You never speak that way to me, Ma'am and what-not." What looked like a smile appeared on his face. "And you never watch your language in front of me." He laughed.

"You curse more than me!"

"Not the point!" I snapped sharper than I had meant to. The curious look reappeared on his face.

"Are you jealous?" He asked incredously. I huffed.

"I don't like it when you call me Patrick."


	8. Holland

**The usual: I don't like this chapter too much, I just got way over-excited about what I have planned for the future. Please review. And I don't own Band of Brothers, only Ryley and a box set of it. No disrespect is meant at all.**

Chapter 8: Holland

It was mid-September and I was sitting at a bar in England, drinking limey beer. I never thought that I would ever be glad to be here. The invasion we originally had was canceled. It was nice, being back in Aldbourne. Seeing my "second family". They had all but adopted Patrick O'Carroll. Maybe, once the war was over, I would write them a letter telling the truth. A letter. That reminded me of the letter I had recently received from home. I pulled out a picture and elbowed Don's arm.

"Hey, look at this." I handed the photograph to him and he studied it. It was a photograph of a young woman. Smallish in form and with long hair curled into the typical 40's style. A sweet smile graced her face and she was beautiful. Well, at least according to other people. I disagreed, but hey, that's modesty for you.

"It's you?" Don looked at me and I nodded. "It's weird seeing you in a dress, and with hair, but you're very beautiful, you know?" He held the photograph out to hand it back to me, but I waved it away. I looked idly at my friends playing darts.

"Just throw it out. My mother sent it with a note saying, 'Here is a picture of your sister, show it to some of the nice men you know and see if maybe any of them are interested in her.' I mean, fuck, I'm fighting a war and she is still trying to marry me off."

"Jesus, I'm sorry, Ry." I looked him in the eyes. Now was the time to tell him. We were in England and just the two of us would hear. I opened my mouth.

"O'Carroll, come here." Shit.  
"I'll be right back." I walked over to Guarnere. "Yes? This better be important."

"Wanna play darts?"

"Darts? I suck at darts, you know that. Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go back..."

"Hold on, I want you to meet Babe."

"Babe?" He led me over to a young kid with reddish hair. "Well, I can see why you call him Babe. How old is he? Two?" The kids face turned red.

"Twenty." His Philly accent was obvious with even just that one word.

"Twenty? Jesus, I feel old now."

"How old are you?" I scowled.

"O'Carroll is very defensive about being asked that question."

"Most women are." I held out my hand to the confused kid. "Ryley O'Carroll, best to call me Patrick though. You're Guarnere's buddy so I trust you not to blather." He shook my hand.

"Any friend of Guarnere is a friend of mine. Edward Heffron, but everyone calls me Babe. Now, I gotta ask, why did you decide to do this?" He gestured to all of me.

"By 'this', I assume you mean pretend to be a guy and join the paratroopers."

"Yeah."

"I felt it was my duty to help."

"But there are more ways to help than just fighting."

"This is how I wanted to help." Babe looked at me strangely. It obviously made no sense to him whatsoever that a woman would _want_ to fight.

"Now, darts." Guarnere spoke up in the silence.

"We're gonna be betting some smokes if you want to join in."

"Oh, I don't smoke so count me out, I have a drink waiting for me back at the bar anyway."

"Ok then, Princess." I didn't bother giving Bill a glare and went back to I had been at the bar.

"Twenty years old that kid is, he's a baby." Don looked at the other replacements.

"They all are." We heard 'Oh's' over by the dart board. "Looks like Buck finally revealed that he is right handed."

"Tricky bastards. Glad I didn't agree to play." He chortled.

"What were you going to say before Guarnere called for you?" I took a deep breath.

"Don, I-"

"Hey, y'all, listen up." Really? "I got us an announcement to make." We all turned to Smokey who was standing on a chair. "This here is Carwood Lipton."

"He's already married Smokey." Malarkey said. I chuckled and gave him a high-five while the room filled with laughter.

"This here is Carwood Lipton." He went on, ignoring Don. "The new Easy Company 1st Sergeant." We applauded; he deserved it. "As befitting his position, he says he has to make an announcement." Lip cleared his throat.

"Well, I hate to break the mood here, boys, but we're moving out again." Why was it always Lipton bringing bad news? I leaned on the bar and felt a reassuring pat on my shoulder. Everyone stayed dreadfully silent. Muck took a sip of his beer and I took a chug of mine.

"Jesus, always when we're getting settled." I set my drink down and left the bar. I guess I wasn't telling him yet.

* * *

"Now, as you can see, this is called Operation Market Garden. In terms of Airborne Divisions involved, this one's even bigger that Normandy. We're dropping deep into occupied Holland, the Allied objective is to take the road here, between Eindhoven and Arnhem, so, that the two British Armored Divisions can move up it toward Arnhem. Our job is going to be to liberate Eindhoven. Stay there, wait for the tanks."

"The entire European advance has been put on hold to allocate resources for this operation." So this was kind of a big deal. "It's Montgomery's personal plan and we'll be under British command." No one liked the sound of that.

"Yippee." I said sarcastically.

"The good news is, if this works, these tanks will be over the Rhine and into Germany. It could end the war and get us home by Christmas."

"See," More whispered in my ear. "Berlin by Christmas."

"Yeah, if it even works." But the other men seemed less doubtful than me.

"It'll be a daytime jump. Intelligence doesn't expect much opposition. They think the Krauts in Holland are mostly kids and old men. And we should take 'em by surprise. In any case, say goodbye to England. I don't think they're gonna call this one off." Goodbye England, goodbye my solid chances to talk to Malark. Now, I could only hope for a lucky break.

Preparations were similar to D-Day but we weren't nervous. The replacements, well, that was a different story. The tried to keep their cool to look good in front of us from Toccoa, but they were obviously nervous. They all watched us to see how we were doing things. We took our guns out and the replacements followed our example. As we worked a truck drove up with a familiar face. Two familiar faces actually. I was excited to see Popeye alive and well but I tried to hide my face from the other.

"Ryley, look." Malarkey patted my arm as he walked up next to me and I shook my head.

"I saw." I refused to turn. All of the Toccoa men were looking but me. I couldn't look at the face of the man who had made my life hell for two years. When the truck pulled to a stop behind me, of course, Skip and Don both turned and we began looking at a map of the DZ.

"Looks like he's a supply officer now." Skip said with a laugh.

"Hey, Mal, Ry." I almost jumped as More whispered between us. "Over there."

"We saw him."

"No, in the truck." My curiosity got the better of me and we both turned to look. My heart came to a dead stop. The bike.

"Oh, shit."

"Sonofabitch." Me and Don said at the same time. In front of us sat the motorcycle that we had... commandeered. Skip gave a half-smile before returning to the map but both me and Malarkey let our gaze linger one second too long.

"Malarkey, O'Carroll." Oh no. Skip rushed away like he had important business to attend to. That bastard. We were stuck to endure the mercy of Sobel. We both saluted and, God, at that moment I wished that George was right and that someday I would outrank that S.O.B. "Sergeant Malarkey and Staff Sergeant O'Carroll." He sounded a little less hateful. Well, at least when he said Malarkey's name. He was probably horrified that I got promoted. He returned our salute.

"Sir?" He looked at the motorcycle before returning his stare to us.

"You thought you could get away with it?" We put clueless expressions on our faces.

"What do you mean, sir?" Don knew it was best for him to answer. Sobel stared at us.

"Sergeants, that motorcycle is United States Army property." You sure it isn't a can of peaches? "That may not mean anything to you, but it means something to me. Where'd you find it?" We looked at each other. "I know you had it, just tell me where you got it from."

"France." I muttered. The memories of latrine duty filled my head.

"I'm impressed." He actually did look slightly impressed. "Well, now, that it is back where it belongs, no further action is needed to be taken." My mouth dropped as he walked away. Don turned to me.

"Is it just me, of was Sobel being kind of _nice_?" I nodded.

"He didn't punish me for something I actually did do..."

"Take a deep breath, Ryley, it'll be ok."

"Right, now let's get this over with so I can be home for Christmas."

"Now, that's the spirit, Ryley!" I faced Muck.

"_You_ left us to Sobel. I hate you, you asshole."

"Uh, ouch, that hurt."

"Well, too bad. Now, help me finish getting ready to jump." I smiled as he helped me get the rest of my gear on.

* * *

The jump was so much easier than D-Day. Limited anti-aircraft fire meant no torn parachute. A huge relief for me. Once I landed, I went fast to get off the field as soon as possible. I wanted to avoid getting hit by any of the falling equipment. The safety we found ourselves in was a ditch on the side of the road, waiting for our orders. My rifle was currently slung over my shoulder, and I sat staring blankly at my hands. I saw a bottle drop into them. Beer. I looked up.

"Why, thank you Hoobs."

"No problem Patrick, sorry, I mean, Sergeant." He continued back to his squad. I threw the bottle to one of the replacements in my squad. O'Neil or something like that.

"There ya go, Private, don't drink it right now though." Planes flew overhear. The nervous replacement ducked a little. "No worries, that was our air support."

"Let's hope they did their job."

"Hey, Sarge?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we can be in Berlin by Christmas?"

"It's possible." I didn't believe that but it was my job to say I did. The platoon in front of us began moving and we followed. The field we crossed had grass just about as tall as me. On the other side was the town of Eindhoven, our current objective. It seemed empty at first, but as we drew nearer, an orange flag was lowered out of a window. We stepped into to town and were engulfed by a sea of people cheering and singing. I walked through as best as I could with Don beside me. Out of nowhere, a woman kissed Don on the cheek. I laughed as his face turned bright red; there was no need for me to be jealous. I laughed harder until a woman suddenly came up and kissed me on the lips. It was my turn to turn bright red and Malarkey's to start laughing. I could feel my entire face heating up as I slowly wiped my mouth. Don was almost to the point of rolling on the ground with laughter. I could see the tears forming in his eyes and how he clutched his side that was no doubt hurting. I had to grit my teeth. I'm sure it would be hilarious once I looked back at it, and it was good for Don to laugh, but at the moment, I was extremely irritated.

"Sergeant, stop laughing." He took deep breaths and stopped.

"I'm sorry, Ry, that was just way too funny."

"I need to get out of this mess, I'm gonna try to find Captain Winters to see how much longer we'll be here."

"Okay, want me to come?"

"No, don't worry about it, but don't do this." I gestured around.

"What's this?"

"The kissing and stuff." And I left a bewildered Malarkey to try and find the Captain. Finding him was nearly impossible, with the crowd and having to dodge kisses. I never found him. I did got pulled by Guarnere to be in a photograph. I had to doge another kiss. Oh, if only these women knew that I wasn't a guy. As I crouched down next to a little girl for the photograph, I felt my helmet being pulled off. Before I could grab it, the little girl next to me had plopped it on her own head. I laughed and smiled widely for the picture. Little kids could be so cute. When the picture was finally taken, the little girl held out my helmet for me. As I grabbed it, she smiled.

"You are very pretty." She spoke in halting English. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped. "I won't tell. Secret." And then, she was gone. I slowly stood up and put my helmet on, unable to believe that a little girl could see right through my disguise. I was far too out of it to even notice Don walk up.

"What's up, Ry?"

"She could tell I was a woman... that little girl."

"Kids are pretty smart."

"No," I said softly as I saw a group of people standing around something. "It's because she has already seen women with short hair." Without bothering to explain what I meant to Don, I walked to the group to get a better view of them shearing hair off of women. Each had a swastika drawn onto their foreheads and they were stripped down to their undergarments. I walked away quickly, unable to watch the crying women. After that, I couldn't wait to get out of Eindhoven.

* * *

All I really could remember from the next day was we were going into the next town. When we got fired at we began our assault. The next thing I knew, we were falling back. Buck was rushing behind me and Don trying to hurry us forward. It was like a set of human dominoes when he went down. He knocked down Don who then hit me and caused me to fall. We both sat up.

"Medic! Go get a medic, keep moving!" Doc was already running our way and went straight to work.

"Hey, Doc."

"Lieutenant." Buck was one of my friends, I didn't like seeing him hit. "It's gone right through, Buck, side to side, both cheeks." While that was humorous, laughing would have to wait until later.

"Malarkey, get 'em out of here, go!"

"What?" Don asked.

"Leave me here for the Germans." He was crazy.

"What? You nuts?"

"Not happening, Buck."

"We'll carry you."

"Are you kiddin' me? I weigh more than all three of you guys combined. Maybe even two of you, O'Carroll." Malarkey's eyes lit up. He had an idea.

"O'Carroll, come on."

"Stay here, Doc." I followed him to the nearest door and watched as he broke it down. It dawned on me what he was thinking.

"What the hell are you doing?" Guarnere was yelling.

"Help us!" We grabbed the door and carried it back to where Buck and Doc were. We slid him onto it and me, Don, and Bill began to drag it away. It took a while, but we were able to get him to the truck. I sat in the truck and looked back at the town sadly. This would be our first time retreating. I didn't like it. At all.

"Nix!" I looked to see Nixon on the ground with Winters by his side. I pat Don's arm.

"Be right back." I jumped out of the truck and ran over.

"I'm alright, I'm alright. Am I alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you feel alright?"

"Yeah, quit looking at me like that." I picked up his helmet as Winters helped him sit up. It had two holes where the bullet had went through. I handed it back to him.

"Captain Nixon, you are one lucky bastard, sir." I ran back to the truck to see everyone's faces were somber.

"What's up?"

"Ryley, Bull is missing."

"Bull? Are you serious?" I looked at Guarnere who nodded solemnly. It took every ounce of willpower that I had to not run back and look for him. Bull was a great leader, man, and friend.

"We'll find him. We will come back and find him."

"I wish we weren't retreating."

* * *

That night, all of us had difficulty sleeping. Some had died, many were wounded, Bull was gone. None of us knew what the next step would be. Too much was uncertain. Guarnere came up and sat by me.

"Any news about Bull?" He shook his head.

"Some of his squad is heading back to look for him."

"What? Where are they?"

"You ain't gonna be able to stop 'em."

"I want to go with them."

"They already left." I cursed silently.

"He's still alive, I just know it."

"We all do, Ry." I stared at my hands.

"So, I'm guessing it won't be Berlin by Christmas." He didn't respond for a minute.

"Try to get some rest, Ryley. We only have a few more hours till sunrise." He walked away and I did just that.

* * *

I woke early and began getting ready to move out. We were returning to Eindhoven today and they were sure to be disappointed.

"O'Carroll," I looked at Bill. "You were right." He was pointing to a truck with none other than Bull in the passenger seat. I could feel the smile fill my face. "What d'you say we go say hello."

"Sounds like a marvelous idea." We weren't the only ones going to greet him.

"I don't know whether to slap you, kiss you, or salute you."

"Leave the kissing for O'Carroll." Luckily, no one who didn't know heard.

"A handshake is all you'll be getting from me."

"I told these scallywags you was okay."

"And they didn't listen?"

"Nah, these salty bastards, they wanted to go on a suicide run to drag your ass back."

"So did you, Gonorrhea."

"And you, O'Carroll."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, I told 'em don't bother."

"Don't lie, Guarnere."

"I never did like this company none."

"And it never liked you back, Bull." He laughed and we began to walk off.

"Oh, they found you."

"Wait, what did you say?"

"Johnny, don't irrigate me."

"Wait, irrigate? Like with water?" That earned me a glare.

"'They found you'? I don't know who's more stupid, you or the hick."

"I say the hick."

"Alright, mount up! Hup Hup, let's move out!"

"Grab your gear, let's go!"

"No break for you, Bull."

"2nd platoon, grab your gear! Let's go!"

"1st platoon!"

"My guys! Let's go!"

"Let's start falling in now. Cobb, move it."

"Dukeman, round 'em up." The orders continued and we all piled onto the trucks. Germany would have to wait for another day.


	9. SS, The Duke, and Some Socks

**Wow this was longer thn I thought it was...**** But anyhoo, the usual, read and review please, tell me what's good and what I can make better and if you have any questions, if anything is confusing, let me know! **

**The usual: I do not own Band of Brothers. It owns me. I own Ryley and that is it. No disrespect is meant toward the men at all. They are my heroes, I wouldn't purposely disrespect them. And onto the story.**

Chapter 9: SS, The Duke, and Some Socks.

Early to mid October. We were still in Holland. At the moment, my home was some hay on the floor of a barn. Tab's giant German Sheppard trotted over to me so I scratched him behind his ear. Tab had named him 'Trigger'. I thought it was fitting. I heard Don shift beside me.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I've just been thinking."

"Thinking? You?" This is new."

"Jeesh, Ryley, c'mon, give me a break." I laughed.

"Sorry Don, I can't help it."

"S'okay." I sighed an let my head fall back. I thought briefly of home.

"Can you believe that we lived so close to each other all this time, and we never met?"

"It's amazing."

"I get the feeling you wouldn't have let me go to war if we were friends then."

"Probably not." As I was about to say something, the door to the barn burst wide open.

"We got penetration." Both Don and I jumped to our feet.

"Alley's hurt, we need the Doc." I ran over.

"Did you say Alley?"

"Yeah, it's Alley." It was hard to believe the man covered in blood in from of me was someone I knew.

"Alright, I got this. Easy." I helped them place him on the table. He looked real bad.

"Alley, you're gonna be okay." I grabbed his hand that wasn't hurt and gave it a squeeze.

"It's okay buddy."

"Boyle go get Doc Roe." I heard Winters voice come from beside me.

"Where am I? Something happened, what happened?"

"You're safe now, Alley. It's okay."

"Where was it?"

"Crossroads, where the road crosses the dike." I looked at Liebgott who was holding something to his neck.

"If it wasn't for your loud mouth, they'd have never known we was there."

"Hey, you know what, Joe, back off." Liebgott always took offense way to easily.

"Lesniewski, send a runner for Lieutenant Welsh." Winters took care of him and I pulled Lieb off to the side though he resisted.

"First squad, on your feet."

"What, Ry? We need to get moving."

"Let me see your neck."

"It's fi-"

"Let me see." He moved his hand; there was blood. Roe was too busy helping Alley. I pulled out my aid kit and grabbed a bandage. His hand had returned to his neck by the time I had gotten out the bandage. "Move it." I placed the bandage over his wound and tied it on.

"Thanks." He muttered softly.

"You two, c'mon." We headed out with the others. We treaded softly in the dark. Not risking the road, we had to walk through the fields on the side. We didn't have to go far to hear the machine gun firing so we all ducked down. My first thought was they had spotted us and were firing at us. The lack of bullets whizzing overheard told me otherwise. They were shooting down a road. When I looked down it, all I could see was emptiness. They were shooting at nothing.

"What the hell?"

"There's nothing there."

"No shit." One lone figure, that I could only assume was Winters, ran up the hill to get to the road on the other side. We were given the hand signals telling us to wait for the signal to move. We waited. The machine gun fired. Winters popped up. We were ordered to move to the other side of the road. We moved silently over the hill and across the road into a ditch, sans the two on the machine gun who were setting up by the road.

"This is our fall back position, here. Mortars, deploy here. First squad, on me. Go." I followed behind Winters as Skip, Don, and Penkala began to set up. As we got closer, we could hear the Germans shouting orders. We stopped. Winters crawled on ahead again. He signaled for us to go to him. Softly, I lay down and pointed my gun. I watched as the Germans as they milled around. Winters whispered into my ear. "Second on the right." I pointed my M-1 at my man, following him as he wandered aimlessly. He was fairly tall, especially for a German and he seemed younger than the others. I watched him as he scratched his neck. Completely oblivious to the fact I had my weapon trained on him. Oblivious to the fact that he would no longer be walking. No longer be able to scratch his neck. "Wait for my signal." The man sighed, he was bored. While everyone else was having orders yelled at them, he had nothing to do. There was a shot. Hell of a signal. I wasted no time and shot. He was down in one hit. Others began to fall around him.

"Fall back!" We all started heading back to the predetermined area. I heard the mortar squad fire off a shot. We started running back. Another shell was shot off. The Germans had their guns on us now. But we didn't look back. We dropped back into the ditch. We began shooting back at them. Somebody went down behind me.

"Fuck! Dukeman's down." I didn't look back. I kept firing. It was only when both sides had stopped firing did I turn around. I looked sadly at the body in front of me and took what I needed off of him. And that is how I stayed until morning.

* * *

The plan. Eleven men up the left flank. Eleven men up the right. Ten men and a woman up the middle. A minor detail Winters didn't need to know.

"Fix bayonets." It was almost time. I snapped the knife onto the end of my weapon. "Go on the red smoke." Why not just all go at once? I took a deep breath. This shouldn't be too bad. We were only running across a long, open field towards hostiles. Winters threw the signal grenade, then he began running. I went to go, but there was no red smoke yet. It was taking too long. I heard Lieutenant Peacock telling others to wait for the signal. I took my chances and began running, ignoring the hissing of my name from multiple people. Winters was already pretty far ahead. I heard the sound of running behind me. The signal had finally gone off. Winters was already across the field. He fired a shot. I ran up beside him and fired as well at the company of men that were standing there. He dropped to a knee and I followed his example and continued firing. It seemed like forever before the rest arrived and they came just in time, I had to reload. I went prone, reloaded, and quickly resumed firing. There were a whole lot of Krauts that we were mowing down. And a whole lot more who came over the opposite hill. It had to be at least another company. I aimed my fire toward them. The explosions were expected, we had to fire to get them from running. What wasn't expected was when there was explosions behind us.

"Oh, shit!"

"They've got the road zeroed in! Take cover!"

"Jesus Christ, they got me." I saw Webster lying in a ditch. I crawled down to him. Damn feeling the need to help people. "Ow, Jeez, Patrick I'm hit." I forgot that he was one of the few who didn't know. We had never bonded.

"I'm here, Web. Where'd you get hit?"

"My leg, I think." I motioned a medic over who quickly put a bandage on his wound. "'They got me' you believe that? You believe I said that?" I helped him to his feet.

"Could have been worse. Can you make it back to CP?"

"Yeah." I handed him his helmet. "Alright, I will see you someplace else." He hobbled off. I went about helping where I could. It turned out that they had all been SS. We took down two companies of, what I called, Hitler's Special Squad. We only lost one man. My thoughts turned back to Dukeman's lifeless body. Slowly, I sank to the ground. I barely noticed Malarkey sit beside me.

"You okay?" I continued to stare down the road.

"We lost Dukeman." He squeezed my shoulder.

"You did good though."

"Yeah. Good."

* * *

It turns out Winters got promoted and took over Battalion. "Moose" Heyliger took over Easy. Our first mission under him was to rescue a bunch of lost Brits. That was also our last under him. He got shot by a replacement while on a patrol with Winters. He survived, but we still had to get a new C.O. One Lieutenant Dike. At the beginning of December, Bill got in a car wreck. He went AWOL and was back in just ten days. Winters got leave to Paris. And, Buck was back. We were able to have a breather. One that we really needed. It was cold outside, but I was still outside enjoying the sun. Malarkey had started keeping a closer eye on me since Holland. He was worried that I was cracking. I wasn't. I had just been a little unnerved that day. I was fine now. Well, as fine as you can be during a war. He asked if I wanted to play craps with him later. I refused, telling him Luz had already asked if I wanted to see the John Wayne movie later. I registered the jealousy in his voice but didn't want to think about it really. He left, and I was on my own leaning against the barracks, fiddling with my dog-tags.

"Hey, Princess, what's up?" Luz leaned against the building next to me.

"Just tired of pretending." I examined the name etched into the metal. "Someone is bound to realize soon that I don't grow facial hair." He laughed.

"Don't worry about it, no one has noticed it yet." I only sighed in response. "Ah, well, the Duke should cheer you up tonight."

"Yes, of course. The Duke cheers everybody up." I said sarcastically.

"Now, look here, girl," I had to smile as Luz began his John Wayne impression. "You're gonna be happy, and you're gonna like it." I laughed.

"Okay, Okay. Let's go see your stinkin movie then, the sun's getting ready to go down." We walked to the theatre. We took seats in the middle and I closed my eyes until the movie began. It turned out to be one I had seen before, so I was uninterested. Luz must have noticed I was bored because he started doing his impersonation.

"Look at me, I'm John Wayne. The costume department set me up with these great navy whites."

"Luz, shut up."

"What do you think?" I couldn't help but snicker though Toye and Lipton didn't think it was funny.

"I'm trying to watch this."

"I've seen this movie 13 times, okay?"

"Well, I haven't so shut up."

"Watch the movie, it's fine." I laughed a little.

"Hey, Skip!" I turned to see Malarkey run in. He caught my eyes for only a second. I felt a little twinge of guilt for earlier.

"Shh, c'mon."

"Where've you been? I've been looking all over for you." He sat right behind me.

"Well, Don, I was at home in Tannawanda. But then Hitler started this whole thing, so, now I'm here." I snorted. Had to love Skip and his humor. "How'd you make out in craps?"

"Not so bad. Here's the 60 bucks I borrowed."

"You're paying me back?"

"And to say thank you..."

"Suprising."

"A tip."

"Jesus!" Perko almost shouted. Lipton and Toye turned again.

"Shut up."

"Shut up!"

"I was up six grand, but I only have 3,600 left." I turned now.

"_Only_ 3,600? Really?" He nodded. "Well, what happened to the rest?"

"Well beside what I just gave Muck here, I bought some stuff."

"Stuff?" He didn't look to keen on answering.

"What are you gonna do with all that dough?" Perconte looked like he wanted some money. Skip, still in shock, was counting his.

"Blow most of it in Paris as soon as possible." Of course.

"More _stuff_?"

"Gimme a tip." He ignored Perko.

"Want any, Ryley?"

"What? You're offering her some?"

"No, no thanks." I shook my head and turned back in my seat briefly wondering what "stuff" he had bought. Must have been fairly expensive. Luz tapped on Lipton's shoulder.

"Lip, favorite part." He elbowed me lightly to made sure he had my attention. "Got a penny?" I looked at him strangely. "Got a penny?" He said a bit louder and then took a drag of his cigarette. "Got a penny?" He said even louder, right before the actress on the screen said the same thing. I burst into a fit of laughter. He was just too ridiculous. My laughter was quickly cut off.

"Lights!" The lights came on.

"C'mon!" We all started to complain.

"You can't do that to the Duke!"

"Quiet." No one was quiet. "I said, quiet!" The screen turned off. "Elements of the 1st and the 6th SS Panzer Division have broken through in the Ardennes Forest." My heart sank. "Now, they've overrun the 28th Infantry and elements of the 4th. All officers report to respective HQs. All passes are cancelled." Shouts of 'No's'. "Enlisted men report to barracks and your platoon leaders." I turned to Luz.

"Well, fuck a duck." He nodded and we both stood up. I walked beside Malarkey, he didn't seem upset about earlier, and we stepped outside. It was no longer cold, it was freezing. "Jesus Christ!"

"You okay?" He automatically replied.

"Yeah, it's just really cold." I looked at the snow coming down. "Malarkey, do you have winter clothes?"

"No, why?"

"Cause, neither do I."

* * *

I was huddled on the floor of a truck between Skip and Don. They were pressed close to me since there was little room on the truck but it wasn't as warm as you would think it would be.

"I guess the blackout's not in effect." No shit. The headlights from the car behind us was were shining onto us. "Luftwaffe must be asleep."

"What a difference a day makes, huh, Lieutenant?"

"Christ, I miss those C-47's."

"We've got a tailgate jump here." Said a shivering Talbert.

"I just wanna know where they're sending us, what the hell we're supposed to do with no ammo?"

"We'll just have you talk the Germans to death." Babe flipped me the bird.

"Hey, kid, what's your name again?" Guarnere asked the poor boy for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Suerth, Suerth Junior."

"You got an ammo, Junior?"

"Just what I'm carrying."

"Just like everyone else."

"What about socks, Junior, you got extra socks?"

"A pair."

"You need four, minimum." I scoffed as Muck began talking. Here we go again. "Feet, hands neck, balls." We all joined in, "Extra socks warms them all."

"Okay, we all remember that one." I huddled a little closer to Don, trying to warm up. "But did we remember the socks?"

"Of course not."

"Yeah, I'd give my boots for a cigarette."

"That doesn't sound like a fair deal for you, Bill."

"We're all out of ammo and socks. Anybody got a cigarette?"

"I bet Junior's got plenty of both." I didn't bother saying I had smokes.

"I don't."

"How about a hat, you got a hat?"

"Hey, you got extra ammo?"

"What about a coat, you got a coat?"

"I wish I did."

"How about some smokes then?"

"Yeah, I got some smokes." Everyone reached out their hand.

"Oh, now you're talking."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey." This is why I didn't say anything. All of his smokes were gone. Finally we pulled to a stop and jumped out.

"Alright, guys, 15 minutes. Smoke 'em if you got 'em. Keep warm, guys."

"Where the hell are we?"

"Sure we ain't in hell, it's too damn cold."

"You can say that again." I rubbed my hands together.

"Sure we ain't in hell, it's too-"

"Shut up, Skip." I walked over to a fire they had sent. "Oh my God that feels good."

"Hey, Bill, Don, Ry, come here, look at this." I was yanked away from my warm fire and pulled to the road.

"What the..." The road was filled with silent men walking away from the forest. All of them looking extremely disheartened.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Hey, you're going the wrong way." Guarnere tried to stop one. "Hey, pal." He got the next one. "Hey, pal, what happened? Where the hell are you going?"

"They came out of nowhere, they slaughtered us. You gotta get outta here."

"We just got here."

"Gimme your ammo."

"C'mon."

"Take it, you'll need it." We all began taking what we needed from the men. A truck came up with more ammo. I grabbed as much as I could carry from it. Muck ran up to ask for mortar rounds. He said he would try to make another trip.

"A Panzer Division's about to cut the road south. Looks like you guys are gonna be surrounded."

"We're paratroopers, Lieutenant. We're supposed to be surrounded." Didn't mean we had to like it.

"Good luck."

"Thanks." I walked back to Malarkey and we started toward the trees. I pointed to a sign saying that Paris was in the opposite direction.

"Too bad we couldn't go there."

"Yeah, too bad." He moved something from his pants pocket to one of the pockets inside his jacket.

"So what did you do with that 3,600?" He looked glum.

"I had to put it up, I can't get it until after the war."

"Well that's sucks." I pulled out one of my packets of smokes and handed him one before taking one for myself. I lit his and while I was lighting mine, he looked over.

"Thought you didn't smoke."

"I do now."

"Obviously." I chuckled and jammed my free hand in my pocket.

"Ammo shortage, no winter clothes, being surrounded by Krauts, this should be fun."

"Of course. Least we got each other, right?"

"Don't start with the corny bullshit now."

"Whatever you say, Ryley."

"I'm kidding, Don. I really am glad you are here." I said seriously.

"I know. I feel the same way." He paused for a second. "Of course, I would be more glad to have a coat right now." I chuckled.

"Ain't that the truth." And with that we stepped into the dark shadow of the trees.

**Two things:**

**One, I love how Jimmy Fallon is in this episode for like at the most 5 minutes!**

**Two, give a round of applause for 'you gotta get out of here' boy and his AUHMAZING acting skills. (But not really) Of course, he is a better actor than me...**


	10. Only Snow

**This chapter is really short because I didn't want to move on to the next episode and this episode was mainly from Doc's perspective. I promise the next one will be longer! **

**Now the usual: Review, please and no disrespect is meant at all to the real men of Easy Company.**

**Disclaimer: I do not only Band of Brothers. Though I wish I did, the box set will have to be good enough.**

Chapter 10: There is Neither Heaven nor Earth, Only Snow, Falling Incessantly.

"It's cold."

"The next person who says that, will get shot."

"Woah, woah, woah, Ryley, that's a little excessive."

"Well, we know it's cold. I don't need to hear it fifty-million times." I was in a foxhole shivering with Muck and Don. I shook my head causing the snow to fall off my helmet.

"Anybody know if anything new has happened?"

"Nope, still surrounded, still freezing our asses off, still under fire, still low on ammo..."

"And still got Foxhole Norman."

"Da-" I was cut off by an explosion. That was common here. I scrambled to get down in the foxhole.

"Muck, you alright?"

"I'm good."

"Muck, Malarkey, take cover!" They ducked into the foxhole.

"We're okay."

"Take a look at this shit, they've peppered my helmet." Muck was holding his helmet in front of him.

"You might want to put that back on."

"Hey, Doc, morphine. Here take it!" Muck threw Doc his morphine.

"Where's Penkala?"

"Christ knows."

"Usually he's with us." We heard a cry for a medic and Doc ran off.

"You okay, Ry?" The firing stopped.

"Besides how fast my heart's beating? Wonderful." I moved my fingers around to trya and warm them up.

"Here, let me see your hands, Ryley." I held them out to him. Don rubbed them quickly in his hands. "Friction should help a little." And it did. Muck made a fake gagging noise and Malarkey dropped my hands and the slight warmth that had been there, seeped out.

* * *

It was night and we were crowded together eating "dinner".

"Should have shot Hinkle in the ass." We were making fun of Babe who had stepped into a German foxhole.

"And he would have shot him in the ass!" Some stew was poured into my tin cup.

"Thank you."

"I got something in my eye."

"Yo, these smell like my armpit."

"At least your armpits warm."

"I'd rather eat this though."

"Do you want syrup with that?"

"Wait, this is supposed to be French toast?" I stared incredulously at the lump I was holding.

"Hey, Joe, be honest, what's in these things anyway, huh?"

"Nothing you won't eat, Malarkey."

"I won't eat Malarkey."

"I don't know, if we run out of food..." Laughter.

"Hey, hey, maybe Hinkle would like your share, huh?"

"I should have shot him when I had the chance."

"What, running backwards, Babe?" He glared at me.

"Shut up, O'Carroll."

"I get told that a lot..."

"Anybody see Lieutenant Dike?" We looked at Lieutenant Peacock.

"Try Battalion C.P. sir."

"Try Paris." Skip said softly as the Lieutenant walked away.

"Or America."

"Try Hinkle."

"Hinkle, sweetie, I'm home." Penkala made like he was going to hug Babe.

"Hey, Eugene, Lieutenant Dike's got a full aid kit, try him."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's not using his."

"Maybe Hinkle's got a syrette for you."

"Eat your strudel."

"Is that what this is?"

"Hey, Hinkle Vinkle, eat the armpit, huh?"

"Shut up with the Hinkle stuff, alright?" Babe's ears were red, of course, all of our ears were because of the cold.

"Aw, embarrassed, Babe?" He didn't respond. We all remained silent. I saw Don kept shooting me sideways glances. Muck cleared his throat. Babe stood up.

"I'm gonna go to my foxhole now, see ya guys." He walked away leaving just me, Don, Skip, and Alex. I could feel blood rushing to my face at the way Muck and Alex kept looking between me and Don. Muck knew I hadn't said anything to Don yet. I could tell he was on the verge of saying something. It's Muck, that's what he does.

"Well, I'm going to try and get some sleep." I got to my feet up quickly.

"I'll go with you." Malarkey got up too. "I don't know where our foxhole is." He added lamely when Muck coughed.

"Bye."

"Later." Me and Don began walking through the snow.

"So, you know where our foxhole is?"

"I have a general idea." I looked at the snow falling. "I used to like snow."

"Not anymore, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Same here." As the sky got darker, a flare went up and a few shots were fired. We stopped, but when they did not continue, we kept moving.

"Here we are." He lifted the cover we had put over our foxhole and we both crawled under it. It wasn't much warmer.

"Do you think that we'll get out of here soon?"

"Not soon enough." I shivered a little and pulled my blanket to cover the both of us.

"Thanks."

"I have selfish reasons. The warmer you are, the warmer I am; body heat." He chuckled.

"Of course. If it helps, you can get closer." I scooted so I was pressed up against him, feeling a slight chill run through me that wasn't from the cold. I put my head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around mine. I knew we both won't be able to deny our feelings for each other much longer. "See? Isn't that better?"

"Much. Thanks Don."

"Anytime."

* * *

"That's it, guys, nothing more to worry about." I was snapped back to reality, I had not heard a word the priest had said. "We're gonna die now, we're gonna die in a state of grace." I lit my last cigarette.

"The world really is upside down now, O'Carroll is smoking." I ignored Luz. No one knew I had actually started back in Holland after the crossroads incident.

"Okay men, let's get this patrol over with."

"Peacock's leading, right?" Luz asked me.

"Right."

"Asshole couldn't find a snowball in a blizzard." I smiled.

"Alright, that's it, let's move out."

"Tactical columns, gentlemen." We began moving, staying silent to not give away our position. Not that it mattered. Martin went ahead with some new guy, and once we heard the shooting, we ran to help. We provided a covering fire as Babe tried to help the new guy who had gotten hit. We knew he wouldn't be able to reach him, and we had to get out of there, leaving him behind. We almost went back, but Nixon told us to keep falling back, so we did. Babe was silent that night while we were sitting around. It turns out the new guy, whose name was Julian, was his foxhole buddy and they had grown close. I could think of no words of comfort for him so I didn't say anything. Winters came and sat with our group, but we all remained silent.

* * *

Sometime before Christmas, we got attacked. They had tanks and the works. Smokey got hit in such a way that he was paralyzed from the neck down. I don't know how we were able to beat the tanks, but we survived once more. On Christmas Eve we had wonderful beans for dinner. Not my mother's ham. Not sitting around a table, warm and happy. The General sent a 'Merry Christmas' via Sink. And the letter also told the story of when the Americans were asked if we wished to surrender and the General only replied 'Nuts!'. It helped boost our morale, even just the tiniest bit.

* * *

That night, the Germans across the line could be heard singing "Silent Night". I mouthed the words in English along with them. I was stuck between Malarkey and Muck again and we weren't in Berlin by Christmas. I sometimes hate being right.

"Oh shit." I jumped a little as Malarkey suddenly spoke. "I almost forgot. Oh, oh." I looked to see him pull out some smokes. "Lucky Strikes means fine tobacco." On my other side Muck started getting excited.

"Where the hell did you get those?"

"Merry Christmas, fellas. Gotta thank Jolly Old Saint Luz." I let out a short laugh as he handed me three cigarettes. I held them in my mouth as he lit them and then passed two of them down. He grabbed one for himself and I helped him light it.

"There you go, Penk."

"I am shaking so Goddamn much I feel like I'm dancin'" I didn't laugh this time, I was looking at what Malarkey had taken out along with the smokes by mistake. It was a picture.

"Y- you still have that?" I said shivering. He went to put it away, but Skip had already grabbed it. He let out a whistle.

"Wow, good looking broad, Malarkey. Who is she? A girl from back home?" I grunted as Skip showed Alex. Malarkey didn't respond right away.

"You could say that." Skip studied the picture.

"Wait a second, I know that face." He looked at me. "This is you?" Even Alex made a sound of surprise. I nodded. " What's Malark doing with this?"

"He wanted to know what I looked like with long hair but never got around to returning it." I don't know why I lied, but Don seemed grateful. Skip handed the photograph back to me.

"Well there you go." I furtively gave it back to Malark who nodded and pocketed it. He mouthed the words: _I'll explain later._

Later that night, we got shelled again. Lieutenant Welsh got hit and was taken away, and Bastogne got destroyed. The day after Christmas, the Army broke through German lines and we had connection with the outside world again. And no matter what _anyone_ says, we were not rescued. We did not need to be rescued.

**Next chapter or so should be a little more intense and longer. Lots more will be happening. Again, review please!**


	11. Foy

**The usual: please review guys. It lets me know what I can work on and it helps boost my morale. Honestly, I get them out faster when I know people are reading and enjoying. And disclaimer, I do not own Band of Brothers.**

Chapter 11: Foy

January 2nd we were able to push the Germans back. It was good to be on the move again, we were to go to take over some woods near the town of Foy. It wasn't too difficult. There was a little resistance here and there, but that was really about it. We had to dig in again and Hoobler stopped by to show off his new Luger. I could see Malarkey staring at it longingly.

"Good for you, Hoobs, finally got what you wanted."

"Thank you, Sergeant."

"Just be careful, they're known to go off." He nodded and walked away. I used my shovel to get out another scoop of dirt and then leaned against the edge of our foxhole. "You really want one, don't you?"

"Hmm?"

"A Luger." Don stopped digging and leaned against the opposite edge.

"I gave up looking after I almost got you killed."

"Us killed. You almost got us killed."

"Yeah, but I'm more concerned about you."

"Why's that?" Why did I even bother asking that? He only shrugged and threw out another scoopful of dirt before laying his shovel down.

"Hey, Mal, O'Carroll." I looked to see Buck.

"Mornin' Lieutenant."

"You guys all dug in?"

"Just finished, actually."

"Why don't you two walk with me then?" We both nodded our heads and scrambled out of the foxhole. "So Don, I heard you won quite a bit of money before Christmas."

"Yes, sir. I only spent not even half before I had to put it up for after the war."

"What'd you spend it on?" I listened closely, I was still curious about what he had bought.

"Well, I did get some booze, paid Muck back his 60 and gave him an extra 500. Lost some of it gambling and bought a - something."

"A 'something'?"

"Yeah, nothing big." The conversation stopped as we reached another foxhole. Buck didn't seem too interested to find out what the something was, but I was intrigued. Lipton handed Don a shovel.

"Give him a hand." Don, without a grumble, jumped into the foxhole and began digging some more. I could overhear Buck asking where Dike was; I dropped into the hole.

"Guess who's missing again." Don sighed and stopped digging. He lit a cigarette.

"And where's Dike, where the hell is he?" Buck was getting agitated. "Where the hell does he ever go?"

"I don't know," Don started before I could stop him, but I wish he'd stay the hell there."

"It'd be nice if he took Lieutenant Shames with him too." Buck paid them no mind, but Lipton and I scolded them.

"Stop."

"Shut up, boys."

"Shutting up, Sarge." He went back to digging. Then, we all heard a single shot.

"Oh, hey, what the hell was that?" Lipton and Buck joined us in the foxhole and we all took our weapons out.

"Patrol?" I shook my head.

"No, we would have heard."

"One man, maybe a sniper."

"It didn't sound like a rifle."

"That was no rifle."

"What do you see, Shift?"

"Nobody out there."

"If that wasn't a rifle..." I trailed off.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh."

"A Luger." I whispered quietly. Don's eyes grew wide. My suspicion was confirmed when we heard a yell.

"Ah, Jesus, it's Hoob, he's shot."

"Sniper?"

"No, no, he shot himself." My heart sank. I had warned him. Buck and Lipton ran to help. Me and Don looked at each other.

"We should go back to our foxhole." News spread quickly that Hoobler was gone.

* * *

"I'm telling you guys, we're screwed."

"You ask me, I'm glad Lieutenant Dike's never around."

"No one asked you, Penkala."

"Hey, you know what? We're doing alright. Even with Foxhole Norman."

"Always the optimist, Don."

"Always the pessimist, Ry."

"Yeah, Don, we're doing alright. We're doing alright now. In case you ain't noticed, there's a little town down the hill over there, right? And in that town are these guys, and these guys are called Germans. And these Germans got tanks."

"I know."

"We all know, Bill."

"Yeah, and our side's gonna wanna go into that town. You wanna take one guess at who they're gonna want to go knocking on the goddamn doors."

"I know, Bill, it's me you're talking to here."

"Jesus Christ. We've gotta do all this with a C.O. who's head is so far up his fucking ass that lump in his throat is his goddamn nose." We chuckled.

"Calm down a little, Bill. Getting worked up won't help."

"Hey, 1st Sergeant." We all looked at who Muck was talking to.

"Hey, boys."

"Hey, Sarge."

"Hey, Lip."

"Hey, Muck, what's the word?"

"Oh, you know. Sitting around freezing our ass off. Singing Dike's praises."

"Oh, yeah, Lieutenant Dike. Well I'll tell you," Lip sat down to join us. "I wouldn't want to be a replacement officer coming in here, getting thrown in with a group of guys, who've known each other for what? Two years?"

"Two years too many."

"Feeling's mutual, Ryley."

"That have been in combat together since Normandy. You're supposed to just show up and lead them? How's a guy do that? How could anyone really hope to gain the respect of the toughest, most professional, most dedicated sons of bitches in the entire E.T.O? Huh?"

"I'm included in that category, right?"

"Of course, O'Carroll. So, if you ask me, a guy'd have to march off to Berlin and come back with Hitler's mustache or something." We all chuckled. "Anyway, listen, you guys, don't worry about Dike, alright?"

"Yeah."

"We all do our jobs, everything'll be fine." He got up to leave.

"See you, Sarge."

"Yeah, boy." And he walked away.

"So, which one of us is gonna go get Hitler's mustache since it obviously won't be Dike?"

"How 'bout you, Skip?"

"Nah, O'Carroll suggested it."

"I don't think I'd look good with a mustache, just saying."

"No, you would look good anyway."

"Of course you would say that, Mal." He glared at Muck.

"Just being nice." Muck scoffed.

"Puh-lease. We all know how-"

"I'm gonna go back to my foxhole, guys." I purposely cut Muck off. "See ya around." I climbed out and hurried away. I was in my foxhole for 10 minutes before Don came up carrying some branches. "You know Christmas was a few weeks ago, right?"

"It's for our cover." He said gruffly but I could see the corners of his mouth twitch. "Just help me." I helped him set the branches in front of foxhole, shivering a little.

"At least we have coats now."

"And scarves."

"It's still fucking cold, though."

"Wow, language, O'Carroll. Not very lady like." I smiled up at Buck.

"Sorry, sir." He only smiled in return.

"How are you guys?"

"Just finished decorating our foxhole, sir."

"Good, good. Just wanted to tell you two to not do anything stupid."

"Sir?"

"Don't pull another Normandy, if you get my drift." Don and I sniggered.

"Okay, sir."

"I'm serious. Understand?"

"Understood, sir."

"Good." He walked to another foxhole. Don and I looked at each other and shrugged.

* * *

We all congratulated Peacock as he got chosen to go back to the States. He didn't seem to realize _why_ we were so happy that it was him who was going. Toye returned to us not to long after that. We greeted him happily. Muck began to point out everyone who had gotten wounded to a replacement.

"Now, Bull, he got a piece of exploding tank in Holland. O'Carroll, here, got a nice hole right through the arm in Normandy." I gave a short nod. "And George Luz here, has never been hit. You're one lucky bastard."

"Takes one to know one, Skip." Muck continued pointing people and their injuries out. I huddled next to Don.

"I swear they are getting younger and younger."

"Nope, you're just getting older." I couldn't deny that he was right.

"... he got shot in his scrawny little butt in Normandy."

"And, uh, Buck got shot in his rather large butt in Holland." I laughed at Don.

"Yeah, kind of an 'Easy Company' tradition, getting shot in the ass."

"Hey, even 1st Sergeant Lipton over there, he got a couple of pieces of a tank shell burst at Carentan. One chunk in the face. Another chunk almost took out his nuts." I laughed as I remembered how worried he had been. That day, me and Don were not part of the group left to be connected with 'D Company'. We threw a few jokes at the ones who were as we walked by them.

"Careful if he offers you a cigarette!" I could hear Christenson start explaining what we meant to Webb. The next day, when we returned, Christenson came running to tell me how Speirs had offered them smokes. I couldn't help but laugh at seriousness.

"Jesus, Ry, don't tell me you wouldn't have been too nervous to accept."

"Pat, I'm not a German POW, I would have taken the free smoke." He stalked away and I almost jumped into the foxhole, when Don stopped me.

"Wait." He pointed and I cringed my nose.

"Why'd they have to do that in the foxhole?" We quickly shoveled the shit out and made sure there was no more before getting in. It was only then I noticed all of the destroyed trees. "Oh my..." Don looked up.

"Holy shit..."

"We should get more branches for our cover."

"Good idea." We split up to search for falling branches. I found part of a tree that had fallen and started dragging it back when I heard yelling.

"Incoming!" I heard the noise of artillery now.

"Take cover!" I looked around, there were no foxholes in the immediate area, I had wandered too far.

"Shit!" I dropped the tree and started running back. I saw another soldier trip and fall to the ground, so I grabbed his coat collar and yanked him up, dragging him with me. I threw him into a foxhole and before I could join him he started yelling something about another soldier having been hit and laying in the open. "Where is he?" The boy pointed and I began running again. I found the other replacement fairly quickly and started to drag him back to the foxhole. It seemed like a minor leg wound, but he was not helping at all. And he was far too heavy to drag all that way. I looked around, frantic, trying to ignore the boys blubbering. I could easily get to a foxhole myself. I looked at him. "Goddamn it!" And returned to dragging him. I got him to the foxhole safely somehow, but there were now too many people in it. They had just enough room for one more person. Without a word I went running for another foxhole. And then, out of nowhere, I felt myself get blown sideways. I gasped as I hit the ground. The pain was instant this time.

"Stay down! Stay down!" I tried to make my way toward the yelling, but the pain was unbearable. The shelling stopped and I looked at my side, unable to call for help. The side of my uniform was torn up with a mixture of tree and shell shards. Double whammy. I could see the white snow turn a sickening red color.

"H-help." I let out softly. "Anyone?" I was a little louder.

"Incoming!" I tried to move to get to safety, but couldn't. I curled up trying to stay as protected as best as I could, causing more pain to course through my body. I watched as everything went black around me.

* * *

I felt a pressure on my hand.

"Dammit, Ryley, wake up." My eyes fluttered open.

"Don?" Slowly everything shifted into focus.

"Yes it's me, listen Ry-"

"Don... I love you."

"I love you too, Ry, but-"

"No, Don." Everything was more in focus. "I think I'm in love with you." He stayed silent for a second.

"I know. And I feel the same way." I smiled but his face remained grave. "But Ryley-"

"Where?" It was Sink's voice. Don's hand left mine. He stood to salute the Colonel.

"How long as she been awake?"

"Just now, sir." She? I couldn't sit up right away, so I gave a weak salute to the Colonel.

"What is her name, Sergeant?" Her? And then realization came over me like a flood.

"Ryley O'Carroll, sir." Malarkey said quietly. I tried to sit up again, this time succeeding.

"How many knew?"

"I can't say for certain, sir. I believe most of us."

"Well, I can't punish all of y'all, out of my sight trooper." Malarkey gave another salute and then left. Sink's gaze turned to me. "Can you stand, O'Carroll?"

"Yes, sir. I can try, sir." I slowly got to my feet, wincing only a little at the pain.

"Come with me, we're going to HQ to see the General." I stumbled behind him silently. I wish I had said goodbye to Don. I shouldn't have told him how I felt. "In." Sink directed me into a tent. I recognized Lieutenant Dike and Captain Winters immediately. Nixon was also there. And a man I didn't recognize who I assumed was the General. It was deathly silent. "General, sir, here she is, a Miss Ryley O'Carroll." All eyes in the tent were studying me. I saluted. It was returned by all of them. Was that a good sign?

"Miss O'Carroll," When the General spoke, his voice didn't sound as harsh as I thought it would. "What led you to parade around as a man in the United States paratroopers?"

"Fighting is where I thought I would be the most helps, sir."

"So it would seem."

"Sir?"

"A silver star in Normandy. Holding the line outside of Carentan even after your left flank ran." I stayed silent, not knowing how to respond. "Normally, you would be executed in this situation." Normally? "But as this is an unusual case, I made a call to the President."

"The... President, sir?"

"Yes, needless to say, he took a lot of interest in your case. Tell me, Sergeant, do you want to keep fighting?" My mouth dropped at the turn this was taking. I quickly recovered.

"Of course, sir."

"Yes, Captain Winters assured me you would say that." I looked at Winters. "Well, since that is the case, we find it fit to give you a battlefield commission." I looked back at the General.

"Sir?"

"We're making you 1st Lieutenant, O'Carroll."

"What about 2nd Lieutenant?"

"Never mind that. Now, usually a battlefield commission takes some time and we would move you to a different company, but the President suggested doing it quickly and keeping you in 'Easy Company' since they already respect you, even as a woman." I still couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Your new dog-tags will have your real name on there if that is alright?"

"That's fine, sir."

"Good, now get back to the aid station and rest up. 'Easy Company' will need their new Lieutenant as soon as possible." I nodded and saluted once more before leaving. When I got back to the aid station, I sat down on my cot and went over what had just happened in my head. I had to be dreaming, this couldn't possibly be actually happening. I got found out. And promoted? I barely noticed Malarkey rush to my side.

"Ryley? What happened?" I looked at him, perplexed.

"I got a battlefield commission." His mouth dropped.

"What?"

"I have no idea."

"I thought for sure that..."

"Can you tell me exactly what happened? How they found out?" His face darkened, but he nodded.

"After the shelling stopped, someone found you. It was a replacement who didn't know you. He called for a medic. Problem was that Doc Row was busy with Joe and Bill."

"What happened to them?"

"They both lost a leg and are being sent back to the States."

"But they're alive?"

"Yeah. Well, you were in a really bad condition, so that medic brought you here. It wasn't too long before it became obvious you were a woman because your entire side..." He paused. "It was horrible." He whispered roughly.

"So I'm guessing the medic went to Dike, who had gone to Winters and he in turn went to Sink?"

"Right. So what did Sink say?"

"He took me to see the General, who told me he called the President."

"The President? As in Roosevelt?"

"Yeah, and get this, he is the one who not only suggested they keep me, but also was the one who suggested I get a battlefield commission."

"Wow, Lieutenant Ryley O'Carroll." He gave me a salute and wouldn't stop until I returned it.

"I can't wait to get out of here."

"Don't go AWOL too soon though."

"Did anybody else get hurt?"

"Buck."

"Buck?"

"They said it was trenchfoot but he-" He paused again. "He saw Joe and Bill get hit."

"Oh God, they were his best friends..."

"It was bad, Ryley. I saw the two of them. Joe asked me for a smoke and.." He looked upset. "To have that happen right in front of you though?" We both stayed silent. "I talked to one of the medics, they said to give you about 5 days and you'll be good."

"5 days?"

"Don't worry, we'll only be clearing the woods." I sighed.

"It's still too long."

* * *

5 days later they did let me out. I rejoined the men of 'Easy Company' with new dog-tags and a Lieutenant stripe. Besides that, not much had changed. They were allowed to openly call me Ryley now, but no one outside of Easy knew. I was glad to be back. The night I got back, Muck, Don, Alex, and Luz all took the time to fill me in on everything going on. The last story of the night was told by Luz.

"You fellas know I got no reason to bullshit you, right?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Look, I'm not gonna bullshit you. This is what I saw. It was so unbelievable, you might not believe me. So, you-know-who comes running up to Lipton. He's got no helmet, no gear, no nothing." He switched to his best Dike impression. "Ah, 1st Sergeant Lipton, you organize things here, and I'm gonna go for help." We laughed. "I need to go polish my oak leaf clusters." I tried not to laugh much harder than I was, I could feel the pain in my left side.

"Hey, Luz."

"Complete asshole."

"That's really good."

"It's okay."

"Did he really do that?"

"Um, fellas." Luz nodded and walked to Lip.

"Goodnight, goodnight all." I gave a wave to Muck and Alex and followed Don.

"Yeah, see you, Luz, see you, Malark, Lieutenant." It was so weird being called that. We were almost at our foxhole, when I heard the telltale sound of artillery.

"Incoming!" I yelled and was about to run to make sure others were in cover whem Don grabbed my arm.

"Ryley, get in the foxhole!" His eyes were pleading.

"Sergeant, you will let go of me and get into that foxhole right now! That's an order!" I yelled over the first of the explosions. He slowly let go.

"Ryley..." He said so softly, I could barely hear.

"Everyone, take cover!" I ran around pushing people into foxholes and hollering at the top of my lungs. Once I didn't see anyone else out of a foxhole, I jumped into the nearest one I could find. It was empty so I covered my face with my arms and stayed like that for the rest of the night.

"Lieutenant?" I slowly opened my eyes. Luz was standing there, grimfaced.

* * *

"Hey, George, what is it?" I stood up and clambered out of the foxhole.

"Muck and Penkala. A shell hit their foxhole, it was a direct hit." His voice cracked. I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

"They're dead?" He nodded. I could feel my knees grow weak, but I stayed standing. I was a Lieutenant now, I had to stay strong.

"How is Malarkey taking it?"

"We're worried about him. You should go talk to him."

"Good idea, where is he?"

"Just follow me." I followed George, not saying a word. We didn't have to go far when we saw Malarkey with Lipton talking to him. "I'll let you talk to him on your own." I gave a nod of thanks to George and made my way to Don. Lip was gone by the time I got there.

"Hey, Don." He looked up. "Can I join you?" He nodded and I lowered myself into the foxhole. "I'm glad to see you're ok, especially since..." I trailed off. Probably not the best thing to say right now. I noticed the weapon in his hand. "You got a Luger?"

"It was Hoobs, Lip gave it to me." He must have seen me eying it warily. "It's unloaded, don't worry." I didn't say anything. "Ryley, I'm glad you're okay, you had me really worried. I don't think I could have handled losing you too." He spoke in a whisper.

"Don," My voice caught. "I' m going to miss them." He grabbed my hands tightly.

"Me too, Ryley. I was wondering if you wanted to come see Buck off with me?"

"Yeah, I would like that."

* * *

A few days after seeing Buck off, my first real test as Lieutenant came up. The assault of Foy. All of the Lieutenants were briefed on what was to happen and, in turn, I told my men what was expected from them. I was nervous, there was no denying that, but I was more nervous about Dike and what he was going to do, or, more likely, not going to do. I took a deep breath and Malarkey smiled at me reassuringly. Our machine guns started firing and that was our sign to get moving. The Germans started firing at us. Shouts of "Keep moving!" filled the air. I thought things were going well until I heard one lone shout.

"'Easy Company'! Hold up!" I couldn't believe my ears, but I could do nothing but follow an order given by my C.O.

"2nd Platoon, hold up!" I heard Lipton call the order out after me. We stopped. "Let's find some cover men! I'm gonna find out what the hell is going on! Sergeant Lipton, on me!" We fell back to where Dike was. "What are we doing Lieutenant?" I asked him.

"Why are we stopped?"

"Fall back! Fall back!"

"Lieutenant, what's the plan?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" Obviously. The rest of us were getting more stressed with each second that passed.

"What's the plan?"

"Okay, okay, Foley. Foley, you take your men, you take your men on a flanking mission around the village, and attack it from the rear."

"What?" That was a stupid idea.

"You want 1st Platoon to go around and attack the village, by itself?"

"We will provide suppressing fire."

"We're gonna be kind of alone out there, Lieutenant."

"We will provide suppressing fire!" Without another word, Foley ran back to his platoon. And I could do nothing but tell my platoon to provide suppressing fire. Lipton tried to yell some sense into Dike but he appeared to have shut down completely. And that was when a miracle occurred. From the woods, a lone figure ran toward us. A shell hit not too far in front of him but he jumped through the smoke and kept going and was at my side seconds later. Speirs grabbed Dike by the collar.

"I'm taking over. 1st Sergeant Lipton! What have we got?" Lipton explained our situation to him. "Alright, I want mortars and grenade launchers on that building 'till it's gone. When it's gone, I want 1st to go straight in, forget going around, everybody else, follow me." I couldn't be happier to follow that order.

"Let's go 2nd Platoon! Let's move out! You heard the word, 2nd Platoon, on the C.O!" We resumed our attack. I watched as a shell hit near Speirs but he kept going. "Let's keep going, 2nd Platoon!" I found myself crouched by a building with Lipton, Speirs, and Luz.

"Lipton!" He pulled his head back as a bullet grazed his face. "What do you see Lipton?"

"Armor and infantry, a lot of infantry."

"'I Company's' supposed to be on the other side of the town. D'you see any sign of them?"

"No, sir. Sir, I think they're gonna pull back. If we don't connect with 'I' , they gonna slip away."

"That's right, wait here." Speirs patted Lipton's knee and got up, running out into the open.

"What the hell?" Lipton began giving suppressing fire as our C.O. ran past the Germans and their tanks. The Krauts were just as shocked as we were and didn't fire at first. Not too long after climbing over the wall to get to 'I Company', _he came back_.

"Holy shit." I heard Luz mutter.

"Amazing." And Lip smiled.

The rest of the day was to be spent taken care of German prisoners. Don and I didn't have much to do except to direct people where to take them.

"So, Ryley?"

"Yeah?"

"I know it was a while ago, but I gotta ask: Did you mean what you said at the aid station?" I looked him in the eye.

"Every word of it." I saw a small smile play on his lips.

"Good, because so did I." He looked happier than he had in a while.

"So where exactly does that leave us?"

"Well, I assume the same position, especially since you're a Lieutenant now."

"Yeah, the whole war thing doesn't help."

"I guess I have something to look forward to after the war then, huh?"

"Damn those Krauts." He laughed.

"Maybe we-" A few shots were fired.

"Sniper!" Everybody took cover.

"What the hell is Lipton doing?" I looked around the corner to see what Don was looking at. Lipton was running out in the open, but before I made any comments, my eyes landed on Shifty.

"He's being a distraction. Come on, Shifty." A shot rang out. Shifty had fired. Cheering told me he had hit his mark, not that I had doubted him for a second. I walked over to Lipton who had sunk to the ground. "First Speirs, and now you Sergeant. This company is full of people who do crazy shit." He gave a tired laugh and accepted the hand I offered to help him up.

* * *

At least 4 Easy Company men were killed that day by that sniper, many more injured. Perko got shot in the ass. That made three ass wounds in 'Easy Company'. That was a tradition I hoped I would not have to deal with. Dike got promoted and I heard word that Lipton was going to get a battlefield commission as well, and he deserved it, much more than me at least. We spent that night in a convent and were sure we would be taken off the line, but that wasn't to be so, as we found out the next morning. In Belgium we went from 145 men to 63. I prayed that night for the first time in a while. I prayed for Toye, Guarnere, and Buck. I prayed for the souls of Muck and Penkala. I prayed for the few of us left.

**Wow. ****That was a long chapter. Now I highly doubt the army would have reacted in this way, or call the President but hey, I had to keep the story going somehow...**


	12. A Reprieve

**I apologize for taking so long with this one and it is so short. I had college finals but also my laptop got a virus and fell to the ground in the same week so it is currently being worked on. And I was on vacation. Reviews are appreciated. **

**Disclaimer: I mean no disrespect to the men and I only own Ryley. **

Chapter 12: A Reprieve

February 9th is when we pulled into Haguenau, France. Webster returned to Easy that day and when he came up to the truck of 2nd Platoon men, no one greeted him warmly.

"Who's leading the platoon?"

"Lieutenant O'Carroll is."

"Lieutenant? When did that happen?"

"Bastogne."

"He sure does look different."

"Yeah, _he_ does." I held in my laughter as the rest of the platoon talked to Web.

"He doesn't know yet, does he?" Malarkey whispered into my ear.

"He'll find out soon enough."

"That he will."

"Jackson, help me up, will you?" The boy grudgingly did so but Webster was not in the truck for long when it pulled to a stop.

"Alright, let's go." We began piling off the truck. "Okay, spread out. Hold along this line 'till I figure out where we're going." I ordered and started walking to a higher officer.

"Lieutenant?" Some shells went overhead and we ducked. Webster jumped to the ground.

"What's the matter there, Webster? Nervous in the service?" I didn't bother chiding Don because of the hint of a smile on his face.

"Uh, no. No, I'm fine, Sarge."

"Why don't you go talk to Captain Speirs, make sure he wants you with us."

"Captain Speirs? What happened to Captain Winters?"

"He's running the whole Battalion now. Go."

""Ok 2nd platoon, on me." They huddled up to me. "We're gonna be in this building here. So let's go on in and get settled down." All of the men were glad to be staying indoors, though they didn't show it. I knew because _I _was extremely glad to be. Everyone instantly claimed a bed and a few people went downstairs to explore. I was staring out the window and onto the street when Malarkey spoke to me.

"Not many of us left, huh?"

"I try not to think about that."

"It isn't your fault, you know."

"Some of it is. I'm their leader now and I've let some of them down. Too many have died." Before he could respond with what I knew would be an argument, Webster returned.

"Hey, guys, this taken?"

"Go ahead."

"Lieutenant, Sergeant, this is Lieutenant Jones. Just assigned to 2nd platoon." I examined the boy who was obviously from West Point.

"1st Lieutenant O'Carroll." I held out my hand and he shook it.

"I guess I'll be assisting you, sir." Some of the men in the room chuckled.

"Malarkey, platoon Sergeant." This time, Jones held out his hand.

"Congratulations on the Battlefield Commission."

"The what?" I shot a look at the others who were trying to hide their smiles. Don shook his hand anyway.

"They're making you an officer, no?"

"Me, no. You must be thinking of Sergeant Lipton."

"My mistake." The West Pointer laid his things down.

"Glad to have you join us, Lieutenant."

"Thanks." He turned to Don. "So, do you wanna introduce me to the men?"

"Well, some are sleeping downstairs and the rest are right here." I turned my laugh into a cough. Jones turned back to me.

"Lieutenant-"

"Please, call me Ryley. You're an L-T too."

"Ryley? But isn't that-"

"A girl's name? Yes, and for a good reason."

"You're a-"

"Woman. The General knows. Now please, as you were saying…"

"A patrol's being planned for tonight, 0100 hours, across the river. Regiment wants P. for interrogation. What's the situation?" Me and Malark began telling him what was going on and what kind of guns the Germans had. "They haven't made any attempts to cross the river?"

"Nope."

"They have a roof over their heads, sir, just like us. I don't think anybody wants to try anything stupid at this point, right?"

"Uh, right you are, Sergeant."

"So, about this patrol…"

"As of now he wants three men from your platoon."

"Who?"

"McClung, Heffron, and Ramirez."

"Goddamn, and they are the only ones so far?"

"Yes, uh-"

"Sir is fine."

"Yes, sir."

"So, it's McClung, Heffron, and Ramirez."

"I'll tell them, I just need you to point-"

"Listen up!" I interrupted. "Got some bad news. There is a patrol set for tonight and so far, Speirs wants McClung-"

"We know."

"Yeah, we just fucking heard."

"Webster here told us."

"Guys, guys, guys." The phone rang and I gestured for Don to get it. "Take it down a notch, will ya?" We were all pissed that he had missed Bastogne, but I needed to keep some form of order. I turned back to Malarkey/

"The P.X. rations just came in."

"Now?"

"Including winter shoe pacs."

"Beautiful."

"Yeah, finally, right?"

"Good of 'em, now that we're in a nice warm house."

"Also, we get showers."

"Thank God. You guys were getting pretty rank." Laughter was cut off by an explosion.

"Alright, let's move!"

"Clear it out!" We all made our way to the basement.

"God, move, move!"

"Incoming!"

"Stay low! Stay low!" By the time we reached the basement, the explosions stopped and everyone, besides Webster and Jones, began laughing.

"Showers, let's go, come on." We all filed out of the building. Another explosion and the shout of, 'Somebody's been hit!' wiped away all traces of smiles. We ran toward the yell, but there was nothing we could do. The man was already dead. I lingered a few seconds before heading to the showers. When I got there, I saw Lipton whispering to Malarkey who looked glum. I gave him a questioning look as Lipton left.

"2nd Platoon, on me." The few of us were gathered around. "Alright, I'm leading this patrol." I felt my insides tense as Don said this. "C.O. wants Grant, Liebgott, Wynn, Jackson, Shifty, from 3rd platoon and Webster."

"They want anyone from 1st?"

"No."

"Is there anyone they don't want from 2nd?"

"Me, apparently." I whispered softly before I was pulled aside.

"Lieutenant, you get a blocked off shower over here." I followed the man and entered the small tent he gestured to. Quickly I stripped down and went under the water. It felt amazing. I lingered for as long as I could and then got out and redressed. Leaving the tent I jogged to catch up with Don.

"How are you?"

"The new L-T is going to see if he can switch with me."

"That would be great, you need a break, Mal."

"So do you, Princess." I scowled.

"I don't get one. I'm a full-fledged officer now."

"At least they aren't sending you tonight."

"Yeah, they're just taking my entire fucking platoon."

"Sergeant Malarkey!" we both turned.

"Yes, Captain Speirs, sir?"

"You're not going on the patrol, get yourself some rest tonight." I could see the relief spread onto his face.

"Thank you, sir." He left and we returned to our O.P.

"Let's make some grub for the boys going on the patrol tonight." Together we whipped up some beans before they returned from their briefing. Liebgott happily announced to me that he was staying behind.

* * *

When nightfall came, they left. Lieb went to provide the suppressing fire for when they blew the whistles so it was just me and Don left at the O.P.

"Why do you think they didn't choose me to go on the patrol?"

"Dunno. Maybe they thought Non-coms can do this and they didn't want to risk our best Louie."

"Best?"

"Don't try to be modest now."

"Malark-"

"Ryley, I wouldn't lie to you, okay? You are the best in the Company especially since Buck is gone. Got it?" I smiled.

"Don, I know I already said this, but I really, really love you." He grabbed my hand.

"Ryley, I've loved you since the beginning, I don't care how cheesy it sounds. That's why I am always so overprotective, because if I lost you-"

"I know, Don. We just got to get through this damn war. I just get the feeling that we are almost there. I can almost taste it."

"As long as you make it through, I'll be okay."

"You better be o-fucking-kay." He laughed.

"There is no one quite like you, Ry." He placed a hand on my cheek. I shivered a little. "You're cold."

"No, I'm…" I trailed off as his face moved closer. My eyes began to close as I felt his breath tickle my lips. Explosions, followed closely by shots, were heard and my eyes snapped open. Don's face was inches from mine. His eyes were boring into mine.

"They're at the building." I pulled away. "Dammit, I should be there."

"They'll be okay, Ryley." The sounds of shouts and gunfire could be heard, I moved to the window. "They know what they're doing." I could see the tracers from the German machine guns. No whistles yet.

"Something's wrong."

"Ryley, they just aren't-"

"No, something isn't right." I ran out of the room and down the stairs to get outside. I heard the whistles now as I ran toward the river. The boats were back across by the time I got there.

"What's going on?"

"It's Jackson, he's hit!"

"Goddamn it!" I couldn't lose another man.

"Come on! Get moving!" We ran into the nearest building. Martin ran to get a medic and I helped them hold Jackson down. Everyone was yelling, Jones stopped some men from shooting the prisoners, and Doc finally came. His arrival made the yelling stop. I helped Doc put Jackson on a stretcher, but he died before we reached the door.

"2nd platoon, I- I'll be back at O.P 2, when you're done, just report back there." I returned to find Malarkey at the door waiting for me Liebgott was there with him. They moved so that I could enter.

"What's the status, sir?" Liebgott's question was faint in my ears.

"Ryley?"

"Jackson is dead. Grenade. I think his own, from what I heard. They also got two prisoners."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to sit down. Malarkey, stay here with Liebgott and wait for the others. I just need to be alone for a little." He nodded, though he was obviously not happy about it. I went down to the little kitchen and collapsed into one of the chairs. I looked at my hands, red and shaking. I don't know how long I was there, but the sun was shining through the window when I heard a voice.

"Lieutenant." I turned to see who it was.

"Captain Winters, sir." I went to stand up. "As you were." I leaned back in the seat. "Mind if I join you?" I shook my head and he sat in one of the seats. "Colonel Sink wants another patrol tonight."

"Of course he does, I'll tell my men-"

"Sergeant Malarkey has taken care of that, He told me you were down here."

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"It isn't your fault, you know."

"Yes, sir. I know I can't let every death get to me, it's just," I took a deep breath. "I was holding him, Jackson, when he died. And the way he was looking at me, with his one eye that worked, the way he looked at me was like 'Hey, you're in charge, do something about this. Fix this.'"

"I know, Ryley. I've been through it too. It's tough. But you have to remember your other men. You have to be in top form for them."

"You're right, sir, as always. I need to learn to do that."

"You can do it, Ryley, I know you can. I have faith in you. I had put in recommendations for battlefield commissions for you and Lipton before you got hit."

"You knew, sir, didn't you? I never really thought about it much at the time, but in Normandy, you almost said my name. Peterson must have told you. That's why he was so pissed when he saw I was still there. That's why he was heading to HQ when he died, to get something done."

"I had already guessed it. He just confirmed it."

"How long did you know then?"

"Since basic training. They all acted around you differently. Some were extremely protective."

"Don." I said with a hint of a smile.

"Yes, Sergeant Malarkey was one." He said with a returned smile.

"Well thank you, sir, for not telling."

"I knew you would be good. A good leader. Especially that night you helped Christenson, when you gave him some of your water."

"That was nothing, sir."

"That was everything. You sacrificed yourself, in a sense, for another. Now, why don't you wash your hands and go to your men upstairs. I have to meet with Speirs and Nixon before the briefing."

"Can I take Jackson's place on tonight's patrol, sir?" He looked at me for a moment.

"There'll be no need for you to." And then he left. As I went upstairs, I tried to figure out what he had meant by that.

* * *

It was when the men of 2nd platoon, who were to go on the patrol, came back did I understand. They told me happily what Winters had said. He told them to get a full night's sleep and report the next day that they were unable to secure any prisoners. Basically, he told them there was no real patrol. And even better, he told them we were coming off the line the next day. I couldn't describe how happy that made me. In addition to that, Jones was promoted up and out of Easy, Lipton officially became a Lieutenant, Lieutenant Welsh returned and me and Lip had to start calling him 'Harry' which would take forever to get used to, and Winters got bumped up to Major. Bust most of all, we were finally getting off the line for a time and Don was still at my side.

**Bleh.**


	13. A Reason to Fight

**Once more I would like to say Rest in Peace to the late Major Dick Winters. He was a hero in a company of heroes. Also, this was a hard chapter to write for obvious reasons. No disrespect is meant toward any of the men and I do not own Band of Brothers. Just Ryley. Review please so I can know what to do better. And also, I realized after I finished typing this and decided to post it, that today would have been the Major's birthday. I found it fitting.**

Chapter 13: A Reason to Fight

"Ryley, it's your bet."

"I'll call your four." I threw the four bills to the center of the table.

"Oh, I can't believe we're not gonna jump into Berlin." It was March of '45 and we were 'occupying' Sturzelberg, Germany. We could all feel that the end of the war was coming. Looting was becoming a big thing, not just with the enlisted men, but with the officers as well. I tried to refrain myself and grab only a few things. I had better self control than the others though, especially Captain Speirs, who became known to loot, a lot. I had started spending more of my time with the other officers but I tried to be with the men as often as I could. Most of them were fairly happy with our situation. They had beds, hot food, and hot showers. It was the best situation we had been in for a while. Most of us though, just wanted the war to end so we could get home.

"No shit."

"Ike's gonna let the Russkies have it."

"Hah, Russkies."

"Damn." Even I wanted to see my family again, despite the fact my mother was so intent on getting me married. Of course, it was better now. After my last letter, my mother did a 180 degree turn. I told her that I was back to being Ryley O'Carroll because I had been found out. And I had told her about my battlefield commission. Adding that I had skipped straight to 1st Lieutenant. It also helps that apparently the President had personally sent them a letter telling them they should be proud of their daughter. Telling them that I was a hero. I don't know if I believe that, but when my mother wrote back, she did seem proud. And that made me happy. When we heard news that Roosevelt had passed away, we all mourned him. I probably a little more than the others because of what he had done for me.

"Let me tell you something, Welsh, this war is not about fighting anymore. It's about who gets what."

"Why don't you deal me out of the next hand?" Captain Nixon said as he left the room.

"What about your money?" Speirs tried to ask him but he was already gone. With my new position as Lieutenant, I could now play poker with the other officers. And I often did because I was good at it. Believe it or not, I had a superb poker face. This was one of those nights. Once again, I was winning and once again, Nixon had left in the middle of the game. After his ill-fated jump with the 17th, Nixon's drinking problem had only gotten worse.

"Are we waiting on him again?"

"Yep."

"He does realize it is going to be impossible to find Vat 69 here, right?"

"I don't think he cares, Ryley. He's gonna try anyway." All I could do was shrug.

"Alright flip 'em over." Speirs, Welsh, Lipton, and I all flipped our cards over.

"Goddamn it!"

"Ryley, you win again." I gathered up the money and we decided to continue playing.

* * *

The next morning, we ended our stay in Sturzelberg. We were moving out. Word spread quickly of some 300,000 Germans or so surrendering and none of us could really believe our ears. This only strengthened the idea in our heads that the war was almost over. I jumped into a jeep, ready to go, when I heard a yell. Human instinct, of course, was what made me turn to see Nixon throwing down his helmet. Upset, and very pissed off.

"She's taking my dog!" Turns out his wife was divorcing him and taking everything. As if the man needed any more things to worry about. Once everyone was piled onto the trucks, Easy Company sang their way out of town. We spent that night in some unknown small German town before we continued our trip the following morning.

Driving down the Autobahn was a sight to see. 300,000 German soldiers marching in defeat. 300,000. That was quite a number. I had decided to take this trip with the enlisted men. I was staring at the Krauts when I heard a yell to my left.

"Hey you!" I looked to see Webster, on my truck, stand up, yelling at the defeated soldiers. "Hey you! That's right, you stupid Kraut bastards! That's right! Say hello to Ford and General fucking Motors, you stupid fascist pigs! Look at you! You have horses! What were you thinking?" The man next to him pulled him back down.

"That's enough Webster, give it a rest."

"Dragging our asses halfway around the world," He started off quietly. "Interrupting our lives." He stood again and resumed yelling. "For what? You ignorant, servile scum! What the fuck are we doing here? Huh?" This time, I sat Webster down.

"Woah, buddy. Chill out for a second." I crouched in front of him and forced him to look away from the Germans and at me. "Now, I can't tell you why we're here. I'm sure there is a reason. Some good, plausible reason. But, you can't lose control now. We are so close to getting through this thing. And I'll be damned if I let another one of you men die just because you're upset. So you listen to me, Webster. We are going to get through this. Okay?"

"I'm sorry, Ryley. God, you're a stronger man than me and you're a woman! Remember how I reacted when I found that out?" I laughed at the memory.

"Seems to me, you almost fainted."

"I was just in shock!" He said indignantly.

"Yeah, yeah." He joined in my laughing and I sat back down. My work was done. When we stopped that day for gas, and possibly the night, Speirs had me send some of 2nd platoon to patrol in part of the woods. When they returned, they had found nothing. When a member of 1st platoon's patrol came running back into town, however, we learned that there was more to this war than we knew.

* * *

I jumped out of the truck I had been following Major Winters in. When my feet touched the ground, a gust of stale, foul smelling air hit my face. I slammed the door shut and walked forward. In front of me, there was a large barbed wire fence. Behind it stood 20 or so people pressed up against it. All wearing black and white prisoner uniforms. All wearing gold stars on their chests. I helped open the first gate and watched as Perko and Pat cut the lock and opened the second one on Winters' orders. Some of the men standing behind the gate stumbled back as it was pushed open. Once it was open, we saw more people heading toward the gate. A lot more. I held back, slow to enter, not sure that I wanted to. My body began moving forward, bit by bit. As I walked by the group of prisoners that had been standing by the gate, they lightly grabbed my uniform as if to make sure I was really there. To make sure that I wasn't a dream. Once I got by them, the smell hit harder. I looked at the wreckage of the building closest to me. Still smoking from the fire that had obviously destroyed it. I felt hands grab my face and weakly turn me to face the owner.

It was one of the prisoners. He was thin, unnaturally so. Obviously malnourished. His arms were as gaunt as sticks and his body was as emaciated as a starved dog. He was, in one word, skeletal . Without warning, he brought his face to mine and kissed both of my cheeks, muttering in German. He wrapped his arms around my neck and began sobbing. I did the only thing I could think of and tried to comfort him. Speaking reassuring words he probably couldn't understand. I held back my own tears as he let go and stumbled away. I stood stunned for a moment before I went to where Winters, Nixon, and Spiers were having Liebgott translate one of the prisoners.

"They burned some of the huts first... with the prisoners still in them, sir... Alive." I took a sharp intake of breath. The stench made sense now.

"Jesus Christ."

"Some of the prisoners tried to stop them... Some of them were killed..." The prisoner kept stuttering his story, "They didn't have enough ammo for all of the prisoners so... they killed as many as they could... before they left the camp... They locked the gates behind them and headed South."

"Someone in town must have told them we were coming."

"Yeah, I think so."

"Will you ask him... ask him what kind of camp this is? Um, what, er... why are they here?"

"He says it's a work camp for, er unerwunscht? I'm not sure what the word means, sir. Er, unwanted, disliked maybe?"

"Criminals."

"I don't think criminals, sir." Liebgott asked the man in German. The prisoner shook his head.

"Nein, Nein."

"No... Doctors, musicians... tailors, clerks, farmers, intellectuals, I mean, normal people."

"Juden, Juden, Juden." There was a moment before Liebgott said anything.

"They're Jews." I felt pity mixed with a sudden hatred and anger. Liebgott was a Jew. And he was my friend. No he was more than that. All of the guys were. "Poles and Gypsies." He continued and then exchanged some more words with the man who then walked off crying.

"Liebgott?"

"The woman's camp is at the next railroad stop."

"Jesus." Was the only word I was able to utter. As if this wasn't bad enough, there was a whole other camp like this filled with women. Still horror-struck, I strayed over to where Malarkey was standing over some bodies near one of the burnt huts.

"Hey, Babe, come here." Heffron joined us. "Look at their arms." He pointed with his gun to numbers, I hadn't noticed earlier, etched into their skin.

"Like cattle."

"God damn." Don said in barely a whisper. Babe walked away and Don started to follow him until he noticed I was still standing there, staring at the bodies. He came back to me as I stifled a sob with my fist. His hand touched mine gently. The only sign of concern he was allowed to show. "Ryley..."

"It's because they are Jews." I murmured faintly. "That's why they are here. That's why these men are dead." I took a breath and my voice raised a little. "I don't understand how anyone could, could... _hate_ a group of people so much that they, they do this. The- They kill them, burn them alive just because they're different. I mean..." I couldn't continue. My mouth was try and my voice had started cracking. Continuing would mean breaking down and I couldn't do that.

"Listen up! 2nd and 3rd platoon, you need to head back to town to get whatever food you possibly can and bring it back here, quickly!" We did so and the chaos that followed was ridiculous. The prisoners swarmed to the trucks to try and get food and it was my job to try and keep some form of order. It wasn't working out well. That was when I heard a whisper in my ear.

"Hey, Ryley?"

"Yeah, Pat?"

"You're not going to like this, but orders are we have to lock these men back up." He was right. I didn't like this. I was appalled.

"What? Why the hell do we need to do that?" Liebgott began speaking to the prisoners in German.

"Eating too much will kill them. Doctor says they need to be in a place where they can keep an eye on them. Regulate their health." As much as I hated it, it was necessary. The prisoners began to moan in protest and I realized that Liebgott was assigned the job of telling them. His voice quavered as he spoke the words. Knowing what I had to do, I hustled over to the truck and jumped on. By this point, he had sat down and was unable to hold back tears. I places a hand on his arm, not entirely sure of what to say.

"You did what you had to Lieb. This is necessary. As much as I _fucking_ hate to say that, it's true." I could feel his body shaking slightly. Liebgott never shook. Heck, he never cried. Forgetting my rank, I allowed my maternal instinct to kick in and I wrapped my arms around him, allowing him to hide tears in the folds of the shoulder of my uniform. I rubbed his back gently and held him a little tighter until he had finished. I pulled back and he looked away, embarrassed.

"Thank you, Ryley." he mumbled. Over his shoulder I saw Captain Nixon, Major Winters, and Colonel Sink all staring. But I couldn't care less. I had to be there for my _brothers._

* * *

General Taylor ordered that every "able-bodied" German of a certain age from town was to help clean up and take care of the bodies. that next day, we were not only told that we were heading to Thalem, Germany, but also that they had found more of these... "camps" throughout Europe. Some bigger and far worse, with gas chambers to kill... It was only later, after the war, that the number 11 million came out. 11 million innocent people murdered by the Germans. 6 million of them were Jewish and most of them were killed in these camps. Hitler had called it his "Final Solution" to the "Jewish Question". On April 11th, when I heard he had killed himself I could only think that they had a special place in hell for people like him. But of course, the war still wasn't over and our road was now taking us to Berchtesgaden.


	14. The Heat of War

**Oh my. This story is almost done... Thank you to everyone who has been reading it and more thanks to those who have been leaving reviews. I do not own Band of Brothers. Only Ryley. And no disrespect is meant toward the real heroes of Easy Company. And also, sorry for taking so long on getting this part out.**

Chapter 14: The Heat of War

It was May when we got to Bavaria. The only thing stopping us from continuing straight to Berchetesgaden? Roadblocks. I watched impatiently as two men tried to bazooka their way through the giant boulders.

"Hey, Webster." I walked over to where he was sitting and reading.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Let's go try to help these guys out." I gestured to the two.

"How-" He stopped as I pulled out a grenade. A smile spread on his face. "Ah, sounds like fun." He put his book away and walked with me to the bazooka men.

"Hey, I have an idea."

"Lieutenant?"

"We're going to put a pile of grenades on those rocks. You shoot them and we'll see if that helps any." The one holding the bazooka smiled and nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, Web, how many grenades do you have?"

"Three, I think."

"That's about how many I have, that should work. Let's go." Carefully we piled the grenades together and when the last one was placed, we rushed back to the other two laughing. Once we had returned to a safe distance, he fired. The explosion was bigger, but not big enough. "Damn."

"Nice try, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Captain Speirs, sir."

"Get your men ready. We're flanking around so we can beat the French." I smirked.

"I like that idea, sir."

"Knew you would." When we did finally roll into Berchtesgaden, it was like a ghost town. Captain Nixon said they were all gone because only true Nazis could live there. The _hof_ was decided as the building to house the 101st Airborne HQ and it was also empty except for a few staff members trying to salvage things. Winters and Welsh split up a nice set of silverware, Speirs cut down a Nazi flag, but I decided to wait for the Eagle's Nest, which was our next stop, to get my loot. I was one of the few who ran up the mountain to get to it Hitler's birthday gift. I felt like I was at Toccoa. Even as an officer, I ran next to Don, laughing my way up the hill. Behind us, someone yelled "High- Ho Silver!" bringing back memories of our first C.O. We yelled down to the people in the trucks on the road below before continuing our run. I was not acting as a Lieutenant should, but Speirs didn't seem to mind. Once the main doors were opened, we entered the building cautiously, not wanting to take any chances. There was no one there. Only a body and some champagne. One of which Don quickly popped a cork on causing everyone to jump. And of course, there was also what More had found. Two of Hitler's personal photo albums. I let out a low whistle.

"Damn, now that is a find, More."

"Want one?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure. Besides, this makes sure you don't tell a C.O. that I kept one."

"Yes, it is best that we keep these to ourselves, I think." He gave a short nod in agreement and we each took one of the albums.

I spent the rest of the morning with a plastered Nixon and Welsh, and Speirs.

"Hitler, Hitler, no." Speirs and I had both decided to drink only a little so we had the privilege of watching a drunk Nixon and a drunk Welsh to make fools of themselves. "Hitler, Himmler, Goering, Goebbels." I think they were now trying to mumble off the top Nazis.

"Hey, Adolf." I laughed at Welsh's greeting to Winters. "Love your Eagle's Nest." He stood up and clapped the Major on the shoulder. "I hope you don't mind. We've made ourselves at home. Love what you've done to the place. Hey," He took the bottle from my hand and held it out to Winters, "Have a drink. Come on. Just so as we can say we saw you do it."

"I've seen him drink." Winters chuckled a little.

"Listen up." He said ignoring Welsh's request making the man look very dejected. "From corps, just came in. Effective immediately. All troops stand fast on present positions." Welsh stood up straighter and the rest of us remained sitting, looking up at Winters.

"Standing fast." Welsh laughed, unable to keep a straight face, causing Winters to laugh again.

"You want to hear it? Hmm-mm?" Welsh made a little response. "You ready for it? Listen up. German Army's surrendered." That got everyone's attention. It's amazing how words could sober someone up so quickly. If I had still been holding that bottle, it would have shattered. Winters pointed at Nixon. "I've got a present for you, come on." The two of them left and Speirs, Welsh, and I were left staring at each other.

"Can you believe it?" Welsh asked as he sat down. Two heads shook 'no'. After almost a year of fighting, the Germans had surrendered. Winters returned later that day to wish us a 'Happy V.E. Day', Victory in Europe, and to tell us we would be leaving Berchtesgaden and heading to Austria the next morning. It was beautiful there. Everything was. The buildings; the landscape; the fact that the war was over. That, of course, wasn't entirely true. There was still the Pacific. We had heard the stories. How vicious the Japs were. And now we were seeing the news videos. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that we were going there next. The only question was when. I had enough points to leave, but many of the men in my platoon didn't and had to stay. That meant I would be staying too.

* * *

On the anniversary of D-Day, Shifty "won" the rigged pick on who was winning a trip home early. We felt as if he had deserved so his was the only name in the helmet. With my free time for the rest of the day, I figured my time would best be spent swimming in the small secluded spring I had seen from my window. Malarkey offered to come with me and I happily accepted. It was a hike to get there, but it was well worth it. It was private and relaxing and beautiful. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, I sat down on the grass by the pool of water.

"Beautiful."

"It is, isn't it." I felt his hand turn my face.

"You know that isn't what I was talking about." He dropped down to my level so his face was inches from mine.

"Don, I-" I was cut off as his lips pressed against mine. Anything I was about to say was completely forgotten. All I could focus on was the way my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest. The way his lips felt against mine. I kissed back and when he pulled away, it was too soon. He gasped a little as he pulled away.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while now." He whispered. His breath playing across my lips.

"Have you?" My voice was a faint murmur.

"Oh, God yes." He grabbed my face in both of his hands and pulled me close for another kiss. This time I turned so I was facing him completely. We were both on our knees, our bodies pressed closely together. His hand caressing the small of my back. He broke from my lips and softly kissed my neck. It was my turn to gasp a little and slowly, I lifted his shirt off over his head. "Ryley?" His breath tickled my ear. Another kiss.

"Mmm?" He looked me in the eyes.

"Is this what you want? I mean... I don't want to ... make you think you have to..."

"It is, Don." I kissed him again before he took my shirt off. He chuckled a little.

"You know you don't have to wear these bandages anymore, right?"

"Just trying to make it difficult for you." He laughed quietly into my neck and began unwrapping the cloth bandages around my chest. Another kiss and I wrapped my fingers into his hair. He threw the cloth aside and his fingers traced down my back and on my side that was disfigured with scars from a time that seemed like forever ago now. Slowly and carefully he laid me back onto the grass. He looked at me once again and my short nod was all the confirmation he needed. His kisses became more passionate and I returned them with an equal amount of fervor. I pulled him as close to me as I could and he tenderly slipped my trousers down. He pulled away from my lips and began trailing kisses from my neck, to my chest, to my stomach and back to my lips.

"I love you, Ryley O'Carroll. I love you more than I think I could ever express in words."

"Don't use words then." I smiled.

"Don't have to ask me twice." His lips caught mine again as he slid out of his pants. Undergarments were thrown aside before he kissed me again and it was then that he and I became one.

* * *

"Hey, the sun is going down, we need to get going." He only grunted. "Don, come on." I began to drag him out of the water.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming." We both made our way out of the water and dried off with towels. "I just- I just don't want to go back."

"Neither do I. But you know we have to." He nodded.

"Let's get moving then." On our hike back, the moon and stars had replaced the sun in the sky. Instead of returning to my room, I followed Don to where most of Easy Company was staying. I felt like a Non-Com again.

"Hey, Lieutenant! How have you been?"

"Fine, Liebgott, I've been fine."

"What you doing hanging out with us enlisted men?" He continued with a smirk on his lips.

"Well, Lieb, I thought it was obvious. I'm 'hanging out'." He clapped my shoulder.

"It's good to see you, Ryley."

"Yeah, yeah." Don went to take a quick shower so I stayed out in the hall with Liebgott and we were quickly joined by Luz. It felt like the "old" days just with a lot of us gone, wounded or killed. Just when Don got out of the shower to join us, the door burst open.

"Sergeant Grant has been shot!" Smiles faded. "We're waiting for Tab to come back with orders." I stood up slowly.

"Who's the bastard who shot him?"

"Some drunk Private or something."

"One of our own men? Shit." We didn't have to wait long at all for Tab to come in yelling orders.

"Bull, Malark, you each pick a squad and one of these witnesses on a house to house search."

"Can we shoot this bastard on sight?" Malark asked and a part of me prayed for a yes.

"Try and take him alive."

"Where's Grant now?"

"They took him to a Kraut hospital to see if they could drum up any good doctors."

"They sure as hell better find one."

* * *

The man was found quicker than I had expected. He was tied to a chair and most of the others began beating him up. I chose to stay out of it and play cards with Talbert and Luz.

"Again, what a hand." Yells of pain could be heard from the other room. "I don't know who's taking a bigger beating, me or him."

"Want to play a different game?" Talbert was very jittery, obviously not liking what was going on in the other room.

"No. Same game, just shuffle 'em up good, huh?" Another yell and Talbert roughly hit the cards to the table. "You alright?" A nod.

"Yeah, I'm alright." No he wasn't.

"You wanna go in there and join in?"

"I should go in there and stop this. Ryley, you're the Lieutenant, you should go in there and stop this." I looked away, ashamed.

"Floyd, let's just play cards, alright?"He was right. I should have stopped it before it had started. But I didn't. I felt the bastard deserved it and I was letting that cloud my judgement. My thoughts were cut off by Speirs entering the room.

"Where is he?" His handgun was out.

"How's Grant?"

"Where is he?"

"Is he okay?"

"Where is he?" Speirs shouted and my heart dropped. Did that mean Grant... Speirs found his own way to the man. I followed behind him. We entered the room and the group parted for the Captain revealing an extremely bloody man. "This him?"

"That's him." It was Bull who responded. "Replacement. 'I Company'."

"Where's the weapon?" Speirs looked as if he could kill somebody.

"What weapon?" Speirs hit the man with his gun.

"When you talk to an officer, you say sir." Speirs pointed his gun at the man's head. Everyone backed off. We knew he was capable of it. He had done it before. His hand shook slightly. The tension in the room increased as we realized we wouldn't stop him. He pulled his hand back and looked at it. Everyone in the group visibly relaxed as he wiped the blood off his hand and gun on the guy's shoulder. "Have the MPs take care of this piece of shit." He began walking away.

"Grant's dead?"

"No. Kraut surgeon says he's gonna make it." And Speirs was gone. Liebgott and two others forced the beaten man from the room.

"Can you imagine what he would have done if Grant had died?"

**I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG. I don't usually write anything sex related and had no idea what to do with that part. I ended up failing at it anyway. I promise I can squeeze out at least two more chapters though it is so close to the end.**


	15. A Promotion

**Review please, it makes me happy :). Alright so this one... is kind of short. It's because I wanted to get it finally updated. I'm reaaaally sorry it has taken this long! Disclaimer: I don't own the men, only Ryley. And no disrespect is meant to the real heroes of E Company.**

Chapter 15: A Promotion

"Here you go, ma'am." Don held out a glass to me.

"Ma'am?" I asked with a hint of a smile as I took the glass.

"Didn't you once complain about me never calling you ma'am?" I shrugged.

"I was only joking." I said, taking a quick sip.

"Yeah, sure." He laughed and I joined in.

"So maybe I was a little jealous at the time." I took another sip.

"Lieutenant O'Carroll?" I turned to see Winters motioning for me to join him. I gave Don a quick smile.

"Duty calls." I made my way to the Major and saluted. "Yes, sir?" He returned the salute.

"You're being transferred, Ryley." My throat clenched. Images of the Pacific came to mind. How brutal the Japs were rumored to be; how brutal _we_ were rumored to be right back. I was about to ask him when I was leaving when he continued speaking. "You and Sergeant Malarkey are being sent to Paris." My mouth opened in confusion leaving me to look like an idiot.

"Uh, Paris sir?" I said to regain my composure.

"There is going to be an display for the Airbourne. They want two skilled people from our Battalion and you two were my first choice. Unless, that is, if you object?"

"No, sir, definitely not."

"Besides, this will count as your required transfer."

"Required, sir?"

"Yes, they let you slide without one when you were made Lieutenant, for obvious reasons, but now that the war in Europe is over, they feel that you should transfer now that you are being made a Captain." I almost dropped my glass as he pulled out a small box with the two Captain bars.

"C-c-captain, sir?" I sputtered out.

"You've impressed a lot of important people, Ryley."

" It also helps the army look good in the eyes of women voters, sir." He laughed.

"That too. Just know that I'm especially proud of you. Congratulations, Captain."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now, we should inform the Sergeant of his transfer and then I want you to accompany me to watch a German General surrender." Winters then called Malarkey over to join us.

"Sir?" Don saluted him.

"Sergeant, you are being transferred out of Easy Company. You leave in a couple of days."

"Transferred, sir? Why?" Don's face fell. 'E' Company was his family after all. It was all of ours. Winters gestured for him to walk with him.

"Well you see, there's this thing in Paris, it's an Airbourne Exhibition. They have one of every Allied combat plane they've used in the war. O'Carroll will be going with you as one of the superior officers of the Exhibition."

"Uh-huh." Don realized that this meant no Pacific. And while he was being separated from Easy, he still had me, as I'm sure Winters had planned. The man always knew more than he ever let on. "I mean, yes, sir."

"You'll be like a technical adviser to make sure they get everything right."

"I understand, sir."

"I'm sorry it's not a more hospitable location." Winters said with a smile.

"No, sir. Paris is just fine. You know, if you need- if you need me to go, someone has to be there." Don, like me, wasn't sure what to feel. It was overwhelming knowing we would be leaving Easy but it was also a mixture of happiness and disappointment that we wouldn't get to help out in the Pacific.

"Yeah, we do, we absolutely do. And your driver will drop you off at the hotel of your choice and the Airborne will pay for it, and I don't think we'll see you two back here any time soon."

"I won't let you down, sir." Don saluted but Winters held out his hand for him to shake. He shook his hand firmly and as we were about to walk away, Winters called out to Don one more time.

"Ah, Sergeant?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Make sure the Captain gets some rest."

"Captain, sir?" Winters smirked at Don before turning to Lipton. Malark looked at me. "What Captain is he tal-" His eyes widened. "No. No way. You got promoted again?" I smiled and nodded, opening the box for him to see the two small bars. "Holy shit they must love you up there." I shrugged, laughing. "Congrats, Ry, you deserve it."

"Thanks, Don." I looked at my watch and sighed. "I'm going to go with Winters to watch a German surrender, catch you later?" He nodded.

"Yes, sir." He saluted and I returned it before heading back to Winters.

With new bars on my collar, I went to watch a German general surrender. I sat in the back, next to Lipton and behind Nixon, now Lew or Lewis to me. Lipton jumped out of the jeep to greet the general heading toward us. He had eyes only for Winters and was severely disappointed when he was directed to Lieutenant Lipton. The Kraut was given permission to speak to his men before officially surrendering. I heard a supply truck move and looked over. From behind came none other than Captain Sobel. _Him again_? I had to stop my fists from clenching as he walked toward us. He glanced at Winters but quickly looked away, without saluting.

"Captain Sobel?"

"Major Winters." He still didn't look at the Major.

"Captain Sobel." Sobel stopped and turned to face him. "We salute the rank, not the man." Hesitantly, he saluted and Winters returned it. That is when Sobel caught sight of me. In what was probably an attempt to regain what little pride he could, he turned on me.

"Sergeant O'Ca-" I turned just enough so the double bars on my cover were obvious. "C-c-captain?"

"Captain Ryley O'Carroll." Winters looked between the two of us as Sobel's face filled with rage and confusion.

"Ryley?" His eyes widened. "You're a woman!"

"Noted." Sobel stood there for a moment, not entirely sure what to do. When the man with him cleared his throat, Sobel stalked off, twice as angry, confused, and shamed. This made Liebgott smile widely. Liebgott joined us by the jeep and translated the German's speech for us. I had to admit, it was pretty moving. None of us said it out loud, but we understood perfectly what he meant about the companionship only found in combat.


	16. The End

**I am so so so so sorry this took so long. I've just been so distracted, I keep forgetting to work on it. AND this isn't originally how the whole thing was going to end so I've been rewritting it. Originally, Ryley was going to be killed by the drunken paratrooper, but I decided this would be a better ending, even if it isn't as well written.**

Chapter 16: The End

A lot happened while I was in Paris. There was the Exhibition, of course, but the most memorable moment was when one particularly eager Sergeant informed Don and I about the Japs surrendering. At that moment, I thought I could never be happier. The men I had grown to call my family wouldn't be sent out to the Pacific and we could go home. And of course, me thinking I couldn't be happier was quickly proven wrong. I had gotten out the champagne to celebrate and we were enjoying a nice, in the room, meal when Don got out of his seat and dropped down on one knee in front of me. I was confused at first, it was unexpected after all, but it turned out the 'thing' he had bought with some of his cash that he had won gambling, had been an engagement ring.

I said yes.

Before I left the army, I was promoted once more and became a Major. I finally out ranked Captain Sobel, not that I ever saw him again since that day the general surrendered. Luz was still right, however. It was the best damn feeling in the world. I had even considered writing a letter to the man, thanking him for helping me get to where I was with his tough training, just so that I could sign it as Major Ryley O'Carroll. I never got around to it though. After returning home to Oregon, life became a bit too hectic. Turns out the whole town had heard about the 'hero' I had become and I came home to celebrations. Between that, discovering I was expecting, retiring, and planning a wedding in a hurry, Sobel was the last thing on my mind.

Five years later, Easy Company was holding a reunion. Showing up outside of the hall that was rented with Don, I could feel my heart skip a beat. I hadn't seen these men in a long while and hadn't been able to keep up with most of them. And none of them knew that Mal and I were married now. I wasn't even sure they would recognize me. I was pregnant, again, so I couldn't come in my uniform, and my hair was well past my shoulders now. Don gave me a reassuring smile, he always seemed to know when I needed it most, and hiked Alexander Warren Malarkey, our first son named after two brave men we once knew, up onto his hip. And then we went in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Donald Malarkey." We were introduced to everyone as we entered the room. Almost instantly, we were greeted by a very familiar face.

"Look at that, Mal, you got yourself a beautiful woman." Guarnere moved a hand from his crutch to take mine and kiss it. "Nice to meet the woman who could handle old Mal here." He was grinning at me and it was obvious he didn't know who I was.

"Sergeant, I don't recall you ever being this chivalrous to me in the past." There was a twinkle in my eyes and I was just barely holding back a smile. "And I think a salute is in order for your commanding officer." The confusion on Bill's face was quickly replaced by surprise and recognition.

"Ryley? Holy shi-"

"Little ears." I cut him off quickly and gestured to my son. The 4 year old hid his face away as Bill looked at him.

"Married and kids. I always knew you two had a thing, but I never thought it would end up this serious." He laughed heartily. "Now, come on, there is someone you've got to see." He started away on the crutches and Don and I followed close behind. He led us to a face I instantly recognized. Major Winters. "Hey, Dick, lookie who just showed up." Guarnere grinned wide as Winters looked at the two of us, a small smile on his face. "Don, it's good to see you." His eyes landed on me and I was just about to reintroduce myself when he spoke up. "And Ryley. I must say, you've certainly changed the most out of all of us over the years." He shook my hand and introduced his wife, Ethel, and I introduced my son.

"And this one," I set a hand on my stomach with a smile, "His name is going to be Richard." I could see how much that meant to Winters just by the look in his eyes.

After that evening, I made a point of keeping in contact with my brothers from the war. And as the years past, we faded from the eye of the public, something I was incredibly grateful for. That was until one day a man named Stephen Ambrose approached us about a book he was writing. A book called Band of Brothers.


	17. Note

So, I was watching Band of Brothers again recently and looked back at some of the chapters and realizing how many errors there were and how undetailed and not so great my writing was in some parts. It got me thinking I might go back and try to edit it a bit, maybe add some things so it isn't focused mainly on what is only shown in the show.

Would anyone be interested in that?


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